Systems and method for grinding a food product

ABSTRACT

A system includes a food dispenser, a cooking surface, and an arm assembly. The arm assembly is configured to receive a food product from the food dispenser and transport the food product to the cooking surface. The arm assembly includes an arm portion, an actuator, a cylinder, and a piston. The actuator drives rotation of the arm portion about a first rotational axis. The cylinder is attached to the arm portion and is rotatable relative to the arm portion about a second rotational axis. The piston is axially movable within the cylinder. The piston includes multiple stages. At least one of the stages is movable axially relative to another of the stages between a first position and a second position.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of PCT/US2019/038339 filed Jun. 20,2019, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 15/157,164 filed on May 17, 2016, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/162,796 filed on May 17, 2015. Thisapplication also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/687,791 filed on Jun. 20, 2018. The entire disclosures of the aboveapplications are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of foodpreparation and more specifically to a new and useful system and methodfor grinding and transporting a food product in the field of on-demandfood preparation.

BACKGROUND

This section provides background information related to the presentdisclosure and is not necessarily prior art.

Preparation of foodstuffs (for example, hamburgers, sandwiches, etc.)according to a consumer's custom order can be time-consuming andlabor-intensive. Furthermore, the process of preparing custom-orderedfoodstuffs is susceptible to errors and wide variations in quality. Thepresent disclosure provides an automated food preparation system thatcan quickly and accurately prepare foodstuffs according to a widevariety of possible custom orders with limited human involvement.

The background description provided here is for the purpose of generallypresenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently namedinventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, aswell as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify asprior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedlyadmitted as prior art against the present disclosure.

SUMMARY

A system may include a food dispenser, a cooking surface, and an armassembly. The arm assembly is configured to receive a food product fromthe food dispenser and transport the food product to the cookingsurface. The arm assembly may include an arm portion, an actuator, acylinder, and a piston. The actuator may drive rotation of the armportion about a first rotational axis. The cylinder may be attached tothe arm portion and may be rotatable relative to the arm portion about asecond rotational axis. The piston is axially movable within thecylinder.

In some configurations, the piston includes a plurality of stages. Atleast one of the stages may be movable axially relative another of thestages between a first position and a second position.

In some configurations, the plurality of stages include an outer stage,an intermediate stage, and an inner stage. The outer stage surrounds andmovably receives the intermediate stage. The intermediate stagesurrounds and movably receives the inner stage.

In some configurations, a pin extends through apertures in the outer,intermediate, and inner stages.

In some configurations, the apertures of the inner stage are sizedrelative to the pin to allow a first range of axial movement of theinner stage relative to the pin.

In some configurations, the apertures of the intermediate stage aresized relative to the pin to allow a second range of axial movement ofthe intermediate stage relative to the pin.

In some configurations, the first range of axial movement is greaterthan the second range of axial movement.

In some configurations, axially facing surfaces of the stages arecoplanar in the first position and are axially spaced apart from eachother in the second position.

In some configurations, the arm portion is pivotable about a thirdrotational axis to move the cylinder between a raised position and alowered position.

In some configurations, the second and third rotational axes areperpendicular relative to the first rotational axis.

In some configurations, the arm portion includes a first arm portion anda second arm portion. The second arm portion may be pivotably connectedto the first arm portion and may support the cylinder for rotation aboutthe second rotational axis.

In some configurations, the system includes a load cell attached to thefirst and second arm portions.

In some configurations, the food dispenser is a grinder.

In another form, the present disclosure provides a system that mayinclude a food dispenser and an arm assembly. The arm assembly may beconfigured to receive a food product from the food grinder and transportthe food product. The arm assembly may include an arm portion, acylinder, and a piston. The cylinder is attached to the arm portion andmovable relative to the food dispenser between a load position and anunload position. The piston is axially movable within the cylinder andconfigured to support the food product when the cylinder is in the loadposition. The piston may include a plurality of stages. At least one ofthe stages may be movable axially relative to another of the stagesbetween a first position and a second position.

In some configurations, the plurality of stages include an outer stage,an intermediate stage, and an inner stage.

In some configurations, the outer stage surrounds and movably receivesthe intermediate stage.

In some configurations, the intermediate stage surrounds and movablyreceives the inner stage.

In some configurations, a pin extends through apertures in the outer,intermediate, and inner stages.

In some configurations, the apertures of the inner stage are sizedrelative to the pin to allow a first range of axial movement of theinner stage relative to the pin.

In some configurations, the apertures of the intermediate stage aresized relative to the pin to allow a second range of axial movement ofthe intermediate stage relative to the pin.

In some configurations, the first range of axial movement is greaterthan the second range of axial movement.

In some configurations, axially facing surfaces of the stages arecoplanar in the first position and are axially spaced apart from eachother in the second position.

In some configurations, the system includes a load cell attached to thearm portion and detecting a weight of the food product in the cylinder.

In some configurations, the arm assembly includes a gas passage incommunication with an interior of the cylinder between the piston and aclosed axial end of the cylinder.

In some configurations, the system includes a source of compressed gasin communication with the gas passage and providing compressed gas tothe interior of the cylinder.

In some configurations, the compressed gas in the interior of thecylinder causes movement of at least one of the stages of the pistonrelative to another of the stages.

In some configurations, the system includes a cooking surface. The armportion may position the cylinder over the cooking surface while thecylinder is in the unload position.

In some configurations, the arm portion is rotatable about a firstrotational axis and about a second rotational axis that is perpendicularto the first rotational axis.

In some configurations, the food dispenser is a grinder.

Further areas of applicability of the present disclosure will becomeapparent from the detailed description, the claims, and the drawings.The detailed description and specific examples are intended for purposesof illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of thedisclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B are schematic representations of a system.

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of one variation of the system.

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of one variation of the system.

FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of one variation of the system.

FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of one variation of the system.

FIG. 6 is a schematic representation of one variation of the system.

FIG. 7 is a schematic representation of one variation of the system.

FIG. 8 is a schematic representation of one variation of the system.

FIG. 9 is a schematic representation of one variation of the system.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart representation of a method.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart representation of one variation of the method.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a system having an alternative armassembly in a first position.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the system of FIG. 12 with the armassembly in a second position.

FIG. 14 is a side view of the arm assembly in a raised position.

FIG. 15 is a side view of the arm assembly in a lowered position.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the arm assembly with a cylinder in aload position.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the arm assembly with the cylinder inan unload position.

FIG. 18 is a partial cross-sectional view of the arm assembly.

FIG. 19 is another partial cross-sectional view of the arm assembly.

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of the cylinder and piston stages in aflat position.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of the cylinder and piston stages in adeployed position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description of the embodiments of the invention is notintended to limit the invention to these embodiments but rather toenable a person skilled in the art to make and use this invention.

1. System

As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a system 100 for grinding a meat pattyincludes: a cylinder 110 defining a cylindrical internal wall; a piston120 sliding within the cylinder 110 and including a scraper engaging thecylindrical internal wall of the cylinder 110; an actuator system 140selectively inverting the cylinder 110 and driving the piston 120 to aninitial position within the cylinder 110; a hopper 181 configured toreceive whole portions of meat; a grinder 130 receiving whole portionsof meat from the hopper, grinding whole portions of meat, and dispensingground meat into the cylinder 110 in a grind position to drive thepiston 120 from the initial position toward a target position; an armselectively displacing the cylinder 110 between the grind position and adispense position adjacent a cooking surface; and a controller 160. Thecontroller 160: disables the grinder 130 and triggers the arm todisplace the cylinder 110 from the grind position to the dispenseposition in response to displacement of the piston 120 from the initialposition to the target position; triggers the actuator system 140 toinvert the cylinder 110 in the dispense position; and triggers theactuator system 140 to drive the piston 120 toward the initial position(at the top of the cylinder) to discard a mass of ground meat from thecylinder 110 onto the cooking surface.

One variation of the system 100 includes: a cylinder 110 operable in anupright position and an inverted position; a piston 120 running withinthe cylinder 110 and defining a set of gas ports 122; a grinder 130configured to grind meat and to dispense a quantity of ground meat ontothe piston 120 in the cylinder 110 during a grind cycle, the cylinder110 in the upright position during the grind cycle; an actuator system140 configured to transition the cylinder 110 from the upright positionto the inverted position during a dispense cycle to dispense thequantity of ground meat in the form of a patty from the cylinder 110;and a gas supply 150 configured to supply gas to the cylinder 110 behindthe piston 120 at a first pressure during the grind cycle to limitingress of ground meat into the gas ports 122 and configured to supplygas to the cylinder 110 behind the piston 120 at a second pressuregreater than the first pressure during the dispense cycle to dislodgethe quantity of ground meat from the piston 120.

2. Method

As shown in FIG. 10, a method S100 for grinding a meat patty includes:driving a piston within a cylinder into an initial position in BlockS120; retracting the cylinder into a grind position in Block S124;actuating a grinder to dispense a mass of ground meat into the cylinderin Block S126; in response to displacement of the piston from theinitial position to a target position by ground meat dispensed from thegrinder, disabling the grinder in Block S130; advancing the cylinderinto a dispense position adjacent a cooking surface in Block S140;inverting the cylinder in the dispense position in Block S140; anddriving the piston to the initial position (at the top of the cylinder)to discard the mass of ground meat from the cylinder onto the cookingsurface in Block S142.

One variation of the method S100 includes: receiving a food orderspecifying a meat patty in Block S110; driving a piston to a loadposition within a cylinder in Block S120, the load position offset belowa top of the cylinder by a distance corresponding to a specified size ofthe meat patty; displacing gas into a chamber in the cylinder behind thepiston at a first pressure, the piston perforated to release gas fromthe chamber in Block S122; positioning the cylinder in a grind positionunder a grinder in Block S124; dispensing a quantity of ground meat fromthe grinder into the cylinder during a grind cycle in Block S126; inresponse to a first load on the cylinder in the grind position exceedinga first threshold load, shifting the cylinder to a weigh position offsetfrom the grinder in Block S130. This variation of the method S100further includes, during a dispense cycle, in response to a second loadon the cylinder in the weigh position exceeding a second threshold loadcorresponding to a target size of the meat patty: inverting the cylinderin Block S140; driving the piston toward the top of the cylinder inBlock 142; and displacing gas into the chamber at a second pressuregreater than the first pressure to dispense the quantity of ground meat,in the form of a patty, from the cylinder in Block S144.

3. Applications

The system 100 for grinding a meat patty (or the “system”) functions togrind whole portions of raw meat, to dispense at least a minimumquantity (e.g., mass, weight, or volume) of ground meat into a cylinder,and to then release the contents of the cylinder onto an adjacentcooking surface for cooking prior to assembly with other ingredientsinto a hamburger. The system 100 can be a subsystem within an automatedfoodstuff assembly system 200 including one or more other subsystems toprepare, assemble, and deliver foodstuffs for and/or to consumersautomatically. For example, the automated foodstuff assembly system 200can include the patty grinding subsystem that grinds and presses customhamburger patties from raw meat (e.g., based on custom patty orders), apatty grilling subsystem that grills patties (e.g., rare, medium, orwell-done patties based on custom patty orders), a bun dispenser andslicing subsystem that slices buns, a bun buttering subsystem thatapplies butter to each side of sliced buns prior to toasting the halvesof the bun, a bun toaster subsystem that toasts each side of the bun, atopping module that loads toppings onto bun heels (e.g., based on customtopping orders), a condiment subsystem that loads condiments onto thebun crown, and a boxing subsystem that closes completed hamburgers intopaper boxes for delivery to patrons. The system 100 can similarly grindand press meat patties or veggie patties (e.g., from raw or cookedvegetables) for assembly into other types of assembled foodstuffs, suchas sandwiches, hotdogs, burritos, tacos, or wraps according to customfood orders submitted by patrons to a restaurant housing an automatedfoodstuff assembly system 200. The system 100 can therefore beincorporated into an automated foodstuff assembly system 200 to grindand press meat (or veggie) patties from raw ingredients once an orderfor a hamburger (or other foodstuff) is submitted by a patron and inreal-time as the patron's order is being fulfilled.

Generally, the system 100 implements Blocks of the method S100 in orderto compensate for natural variability of density and composition (e.g.,ratio of fat to protein) of meat to produce freshly-ground hamburgerpatties of at least a minimum weight or mass. In particular, uponconclusion of a grind cycle, the system 100 can weigh a quantity ofground meat dispensed into the cylinder, return the cylinder to a grindposition to receive additional ground meat from the grinder if a minimumweight or mass is not met, and feed the weight of and the grindparameters for the quantity of ground meat forward to a next grind cyclein order to compensate for variations in meat density and compositionwhen grinding and forming a next hamburger patty. For example, bycalculating a running or weighted averaging of the weight of ground meatdispensed into the cylinder per unit of grind time (or per unitdeflection of the cylinder, per unit displacement of the piston, etc. asdescribed below) for a most recent set of (e.g., ten) hamburger pattiesformed by the system 100 following completion of each hamburger patty,the system 100 can calculate a grind duration (or a target deflection ofthe cylinder, a target displacement of the piston, etc.) to achieve atarget weight of ground meat in a subsequent grind cycle with nounderage and minimal overage from the target weight despite globalvariations in the density and composition of a mass of whole portions ofmeat loaded into the system 100.

The system 100 can also implement Blocks of the method S100 to grind andpress hamburger patties of a particular density. In particular, thesystem 100 can grind a particular mass of meat into the cylinder, andthe system 100 can compress this mass of meat into a hamburger patty ofa particular volume yielding a density corresponding to a particulartarget compaction level. For example, to produce a raw hamburger pattysuited to a well-done doneness level, the system 100 can grind and pressa quantity of meat into a relatively short hamburger patty correspondingto a high level of compaction, thereby reducing a thermal distancebetween the center of the hamburger patty and its top and bottomsurfaces and yielding a higher center temperature in the cookedhamburger patty for a given cook time and heat flux. In this example, toproduce a raw hamburger patty of the same raw weight suited to a raredoneness level, the system 100 can grind and press a quantity of meatinto a relatively tall hamburger patty corresponding to a low level ofcompaction, thereby increasing a thermal distance between the center ofthe hamburger patty and its top and bottom surfaces and yielding a lowercenter temperature in the cooked hamburger patty for the same cook timeand heat flux. The system 100 can thus control a density (or level ofcompaction) of a quantity of ground meat dispensed into the cylinderbased on a doneness level specified for the hamburger patty in acorresponding food order.

Furthermore, the system 100 can include a gas supply 150 that supplies aburst of air between the piston and a quantity of ground meat during adispense cycle in order to dislodge the quantity of ground meat—in theform of a hamburger patty—from the cylinder. However, because thegrinder may dispense meat into the cylinder at a relatively highpressure, the gas supply 150 can also maintain gas pressure behind thepiston (or maintain a positive flow rate of gas past the piston) duringa grind cycle in order to prevent or limit ingress of food material(e.g., ground meat, fluids) past the piston, which may otherwise spoil,interfere with motion of the piston, and/or necessitate more frequent ordeeper cleaning between operating periods of the system 100.

The system 100 is described herein as a system for grinding wholeportions of raw meat into ground hamburger patties. However, the system100 can additionally or alternatively grind vegetables, fish, cooked oruncooked sausage, and/or any other raw, semi-cooked, or cookedingredients into round patties, rectangular patties, or patties of anyother geometry and can dispense a patty onto any other cooking surface,heating surface, bun, salad, or other container or surface.

4. Automated Food Assembly Apparatus

The system 100 can function as a subsystem within an automated foodstuffassembly apparatus including one or more other subsystems thatautomatically prepare, assemble, and deliver foodstuffs according tocustom food orders submitted by local and/or remote patrons. Forexample, the automated foodstuff assembly apparatus can include: a bundispenser and slicing subsystem that slices and dispenses a bun from abun hopper; a bun buttering subsystem that applies butter to each sideof the sliced bun prior to toasting the halves of the bun; a bun toastersubsystem that toasts each side of the bun; a topping module that loadsa custom set of toppings in custom quantities onto the bun heelaccording to topping specifications in a custom food order received froma patron; a condiment subsystem that loads condiments onto the bun crownaccording to condiment specifications in the custom food order; thesystem 100 is a patty grinding system that grinds a quantity of raw meat(e.g., based on a custom patty size and a custom meat blend specified inthe custom food order) and that presses this quantity of meat into acustom hamburger patty (e.g., to a compression level corresponding to acustom doneness level specified in the custom food order); a pattycooking subsystem that cooks the hamburger patty received from the pattygrinding system according to the custom doneness level specified in thecustom food order and dispenses the cooked hamburger patty onto the bunheel; and a boxing subsystem that closes the completed hamburger withina paper box for subsequent delivery to the corresponding patron.

The system 100 can grind and press hamburger patties (or veggie patties)from whole portions of raw meat (or from raw or cooked vegetables) anddispense these hamburger patties onto a cooking surface or into acooking system. Once cooked, a hamburger patty ground and pressed by thesystem 100 can be combined with other ingredients to assemble ahamburger, a sandwich, a hotdog, a burrito, a taco, a salad, or a wrap,etc. according to a custom food order submitted by a patron to arestaurant, food truck, convenience store, grocery store, or food kiosk,etc. housing such as an automated foodstuff assembly apparatus. Thesystem 100 can therefore be incorporated into an automated foodstuffassembly apparatus to automatically grind and press raw hamburgerpatties for immediate cooking, assembly into a hamburger (or otherfoodstuff), and delivery to a patron following submission of a customfood order by the patron.

5. Food Order

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, Block S110 of the method S100 recitesreceiving a food order specifying a meat patty. Generally, the system100 functions to receive an order for a raw hamburger patty in BlockS110 and then executes the subsequent Blocks of the method S100 toproduce a raw hamburger patty according to the food order.

In one implementation, upon receipt of a hamburger order, the automatedfoodstuff assembly apparatus passes a request for a generic hamburgerpatty of a preset size (e.g., 100 grams+10 grams/−0 grams), of a presetdoneness value (e.g., medium-well), and/or of a preset density orcompaction level (e.g., 30 pounds per cubic foot) to the system 100; thesystem 100 thus receives this request for a generic hamburger patty inBlock S110 and executes subsequent Blocks of the method S100 asdescribed below to fulfill the request.

In another implementation, a patron can generate a hamburger orderwithin an ordering interface executing on a mobile computing device(e.g., a smartphone) or at a local kiosk connected to the automatedfoodstuff assembly apparatus. Within the ordering interface, the patroncan select a radio button corresponding to hamburger patty size (e.g.,small (three ounces), medium (five ounces), or large (eight ounces) andmanipulate a slider along a slider bar to select a doneness value forthe hamburger patty in the patron's hamburger order, such as aquantitative doneness value between 1 and 100 along a 100-incrementslider bar. Upon receipt of this hamburger order, the automatedfoodstuff assembly apparatus can distribute a request for a newhamburger patty—of the size and cooked to the doneness value specifiedin the food order—to the system 100 (e.g., to a controller 160) in BlockS110, and the system 100 can calculate a load position for the piston, agrind duration for the grinder, and/or a deflection distance for thecylinder, etc., as described below, for a grind cycle to form a rawhamburger patty according to specifications defined in the new foodorder. However, the system 100 can receive an order, command, or requestfor a new hamburger patty in any other way and including any otherspecifications in Block S110.

6. Housing

As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, one variation of the patty grinding systemincludes a housing 190 that defines an enclosed volume configured tohouse the hopper and the grinder. The housing 190 can include two doors,including a first door arranged over the hopper and manually operable byan operator to dispense whole portions of raw meat into the hopperbelow, and including a second door 192 adjacent the arm andautomatically operable by a door actuator or directly by the arm as thearm moves the cylinder (with fresh-ground patty) from the grind positionwithin the housing 190 to the dispense position adjacent a cookingsurface external the housing 190. The housing 190 can also include afunnel adjacent or extending from the upper door toward the hopper toguide whole portions of meat loaded through the upper door into thehopper below.

In one implementation, the system 100 includes a refrigeration unit 194arranged within the housing 190. For example, the automated foodassembly apparatus (including the system 100) can include a remotecompressor, and the system 100 can include a single evaporator arrangedwithin the housing 190 and coupled to the remote compressor byrefrigerant supply and return lines, as shown in FIG. 1A. In thisexample, the evaporator can define a thin rectangular structure of largesurface area and can be arranged within the housing 190 adjacent andfacing the hopper. Alternatively, the system 100 can include anevaporator integrated into the hopper or integrated into the grinder tocool these components directly. In this variation, the housing 190 canalso include internal baffles near its doors (described above) to reduceair mixing release of cooled air from the housing 190 when fresh wholeportions of meat are loaded into the hopper through the upper door andwhen the arm drives the cylinder from the grind position, through theside door 192, to the dispense position.

7. Hopper

As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, one variation of the system 100 includes ahopper configured to store whole portions of meat. Generally, the hopperdefines a container configured to store whole portions of meat and todispense whole portions of meat into an inlet of the grinder. Asdescribed above, the hopper can be arranged within the housing with anopen end supported below the upper door of the housing to collect wholeportions of meat dispensed through the upper door, as shown in FIG. 1B.

The hopper can also include one or more augers 182 configured to mingle(or “mix”) whole portions of meat—such as in the form of approximatelyone-inch-cubed cubes of beef, bison, chicken, or turkey—within thehopper and to drive whole portions of meat from the hopper toward theinlet of the grinder. In one example, the hopper includes an upper auger182 and a lower auger 183, wherein the upper auger defines adouble-helical beater that mixes whole portions of meat in the hopper,and wherein the lower auger (arranged below the upper auger) defines ascrew that drives whole portions of meat laterally toward the grinder,as shown in FIG. 2. The upper and lower augers can be geared together bya gearbox and driven by a single motor, and the gearbox and motor can beisolated from a food contact zone within the housing, as shown in FIG.3.

In one implementation, the gearbox includes two output shaftsterminating at quick-release couplers that transiently engagecorresponding input shafts of the upper and lower augers. In thisimplementation, the gearbox and motor can be substantially intransientlyinstalled within the housing, and the hopper and upper and lower augerscan be removed from the housing in-unit, disassembled, and cleaned—suchas by hand or in a dishwasher—between periods of operation. For example,the hopper can be constrained within the housing by quick-release locks(as shown in FIG. 3) and the motor and gearbox can be supported on alinear tack aligned with the axes of the input shafts of the augers suchthat an operator can slide the motor and gearbox along the linear trackto separate the flexible, quick release couplers of the gearbox from theinput shafts of the augers, release the quick-release locks on thehopper, pivot the hopper from a support stand within the housing, andremove the hopper and upper and lower-augers in-unit.

The hopper can be intermittently loaded with whole portions ofpre-seasoned meat by an (human) operator. Alternatively, the system 100can include a seasoning module arranged within or external the housing,and the seasoning module can dispense seasonings (e.g., salt, pepper,garlic powder) onto an exposed surface of a patty once meat is groundinto the cylinder, such as at an intermediate seasoning position betweenthe grind position adjacent the grinder and the dispense positionadjacent an external cooking surface. The seasoning module can alsodispense seasonings into the cylinder following a dispense cycle andprior to a next grind cycle (i.e., when the cylinder is substantiallyempty) such that the bottom surface of the next hamburger patty thusformed is also coated with a seasoning, and the seasoning module candispense additional seasoning onto the top of the hamburger patty, suchas once the quantity of ground meat is confirmed in a subsequent weighcycle and before the hamburger patty is dispensed in a dispense cycle.Alternatively, the grinder can dispense a sublayer of ground meat intothe cylinder, the actuator system can move the cylinder to anintermediate seasoning position, the seasoning module can dispenseseasonings onto the sublayer of ground meat, the actuator system canreturn the cylinder to the grind position, the grinder can dispenseanother sublayer of ground meat into the cylinder and over the layer ofseasoning, and the system 100 can repeat this process to form a singlepatty with multiple layers of ground meat and seasoning before weighingthe quantity of ground meat in the cylinder and dispensing the pattyonto an adjacent cooking surface. Yet alternatively, the seasoningmodule can dispense a controlled amount (e.g., mass, weight, volume) ofseasonings directly into the hopper, into a feed tube between the hopperand the grinder, or directly into the grinder as the grinder grindswhole portions of meat into the cylinder.

In one implementation, the hopper includes an upper section and a lowersection electrically isolated from the upper section and is configuredto feed whole portions of meat downward toward the lower auger, as shownin FIG. 3. In this implementation, the system 100 (e.g., the controller160 described below) can monitor electrical conductivity between theupper section of the hopper and the lower section of the hopper. Becauseraw portions of meat may conduct electricity, the system 100 candetermine that the upper section of the hopper is empty if no electricalconductivity or low electrical conductivity is measured across the uppersection and the lower section of the hopper, and the system 100 can thenissue an alarm or other prompt to reload the upper section of thehopper. For example, when fully loaded with portions of meat, the uppersection of the hopper can store a mass of meat sufficient to form 100hamburger patties, and the lower section of the hopper can store a massof meat sufficient to form 50 hamburger patties. In this example, whenelectrical contact between the upper and lower sections of the hopper islost, the system 100 can determine that the hopper contains a mass ofmeat sufficient for approximately 50 hamburgers. The system 100 can thenmaintain a counter of hamburger patties subsequently formed and transmita notification to an operator's mobile computing device to reload thehopper once the estimated mass of meat remaining in the hopper issufficient for fewer than 20 hamburger patties. The system 100 canadditionally or alternatively issue an audible or visible alarm on theautomated foodstuff assembly apparatus to reload the hopper.Alternatively, the system 100 can track an amount of meat in the hopperbased on a weight of the hopper, a weight of the housing, an output of adistance sensor arranged over the hopper, or in any other way or basedon any other sensor output, and the system 100 can prompt an operator toreload the hopper in any other way and at any other suitable time duringoperation.

8. Grinder

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the grinder 130 is configured to grind meatand to dispense a quantity of ground meat onto the piston in thecylinder during a grind cycle. Generally, the grinder 130 functions toreceive whole portions of meat from the hopper, to grind these wholeportions of meat, and to dispense ground meat into the cylindersupported in the grind position by the actuator system.

In one implementation, the grinder 130 includes a (vertical) grindingscrew configured to drive whole portions of meat—received from thehopper via the lower auger—through a die and into the cylinder (in thegrind position) below, as shown in FIG. 4. In this implementation, thegrinding screw can be driven by a motor via a gearbox and aquick-release coupler, and the motor and gearbox of the grinder 130 canbe mounted substantially intransiently within or on the housing andisolated from the food contact zone within the housing. Like the hopper,the grinder 130 can be constrained within the housing by one or morequick-release locks (as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4) that can be released byan operator to remove the grinder 130 (e.g., grinding head, die, andgrinding screw) from the housing. The grinder 130 can then bedisassembled and cleaned—such as manually or in a dishwasher—betweenperiods of operation.

However, the grinder 130 can be of any other type and can operate in anyother way to grind or “mince” meat fed from the hopper and to depositsuch ground or “minced” meat into the cylinder below (or beside) theoutlet of the grinder 130.

9. Cylinder, Piston, and Actuator System

As shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 6, and 7, the system also includes: a cylinder110 operable in a upright position and an inverted position; a piston120 running within the cylinder 110 and defining a set of gas ports 122;and an actuator system 140 configured to transition the cylinder 110from the upright position to the inverted position during a dispensecycle to dispense the quantity of ground meat in the form of a pattyfrom the cylinder 110. Generally, the cylinder 110 can define acylindrical internal wall; the piston 120 can slide within the cylinder110 and can include a scraper that engages the cylindrical internal wallof the cylinder 110 to remove ground meat and other debris from theinternal wall; and the actuator system 140 can selectively invert thecylinder 110 between upright and inverted positions, can selectivelydrive the piston 120 between a load position offset below the top of thecylinder 110 to receive ground meat from the grinder and an unloadposition proximal a top of the cylinder 110 to force a hamburger pattyout of the cylinder 110, and can selectively position the cylinder 110between a grind position and an dispense position.

As shown in FIG. 5, the cylinder 110 can define a cylindrical internalvolume (i.e., an internal volume of constant circular cross-section)open on both ends. For example, the cylinder 110 can include aTeflon-coated aluminum cylinder 110 or an ultra-high-molecular-weightpolyethylene cylinder 110. However, the cylinder 110 can define anyother geometry and can be constructed of any other suitable material orcombination of materials. The actuation system can include an arm (orbeam, or boom); the cylinder 110 can be supported on a distal end of thearm, as described below, and can be driven between an upright positionto receive ground meat from the grinder and an inverted position todispense a patty onto an adjacent cooking surface by the actuator system140. For example, the cylinder 110 can be hung on a first shaftpivotably mounted on the distal end of the arm substantiallyperpendicular to the central axis of the cylinder 110, and the cylinder110 can thus pivot about the axis of the first shaft between the uprightand inverted positions, as shown in FIG. 5.

As shown in FIG. 7, the piston 120 runs along the interior wall of thecylinder 110 and can include a scraper, O-ring, and/or other seal orscraper configured to remove fat and other deposits from the interiorwall of the cylinder 110 as the piston 120 is driven from the loadposition to the unload position. The piston 120 also functions to drivea patty out of the cylinder 110 and onto an adjacent cooking surface asthe piston 120 is driven—by the actuator system 140—from the loadposition to the unload position within the cylinder 110. For example,the piston 120 can be coupled by a linkage (e.g., a crank and aconnecting rod) to a second shaft parallel and adjacent the first shaft,as shown in FIG. 6, wherein the actuator system 140 similarly drives thepiston 120 linearly through the cylinder 110 via the second shaft. Inone implementation, the piston 120 defines a smooth, Teflon-coated, flatsurface facing the top of the cylinder 110. In another implementation,the piston 120 defines a perforated surface facing the open end of thecylinder 110 to yield a relatively low total surface area in contactwith ground meat across the face of the piston 120; the gas supply 150line can be fluidly coupled to the cylinder 110 behind the piston 120,and the system 100 can trigger a valve to release compressed gas into achamber behind the piston 120; this gas can then travel throughperforations in the piston 120 to separate the ground meat from the faceof the piston 120 when dispensing the patty onto an adjacent cookingsurface, as described below. However, the piston 120 can define anyother surface geometry.

The actuator system 140 functions to invert the cylinder 110 between theupright and inverted positions and to drive the piston 120 between theload position and the unload position. In one implementation, theactuator system 140 includes a primary actuator 141 (e.g., a rotarymotor) and a planetary gearbox 145, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 7. In thisimplementation, the output shaft of the primary actuator 141 (e.g., anelectric, pneumatic, or hydraulic motor) can be mechanically coupled tothe ring gear of the planetary gearbox 145, the first shaft (supportingthe cylinder 110) can be coupled to the sun gear of the planetarygearbox 145 via a planet arm, and the second shaft (connected to thepiston 120 via the linkage) can be coupled to the planet gears of theplanetary gearbox 145. The seal and/or scraper arranged about theperimeter of the piston 120 can yield a mechanical resistance totranslation of the piston 120 within the cylinder 110 (and thereforeresistance to rotation of the second shaft) that exceeds a totalmechanical resistance to rotation of the first shaft and the cylinder110 assembly. Thus, with the cylinder 110 in the upright position andthe piston 120 in the load position, the seal can constrain the piston120 in the cylinder 110 and effectively lock the position of the planetarm relative to the first shaft such that, when the primary actuator 141initially applies a torque to the ring gear, sun gear, planet gears, andplanet arm, rotate in unit, thereby rotating the first shaft andinverting the cylinder 110 from the upright position to the invertedposition with the piston 120 remaining in the same position within thecylinder 110. However, once the cylinder 110 reaches the invertedposition and contacts an invert stop, continued application of torque bythe primary actuator 141 into the gearbox 145 can overcome mechanicalresistance between the piston 120 and the cylinder 110 and thus drivethe piston 120 from the load position toward the unload position. Inparticular, with the cylinder 110 thus driven against the invert stop,the sun gear in the planetary gearbox 145 can be locked against furtherrotation as the ring gear continues to rotate under torque applied bythe primary actuator 141, and the planet gears and the planet arm canthus rotate (at some ratio of rotation) about the sun gear, therebyrotating the second shaft relative to the first shaft and driving thepiston 120 toward the unload position within the cylinder 110. Forexample, with the arm supporting the cylinder 110 in the uprightposition over a cooking surface and with a metered quantity of groundmeat loaded in the cylinder 110, the primary actuator 141 can drive theplanetary gearbox 145 to first invert the cylinder 110 in Block S140 andto then drive the piston 120 from the load position within the cylinder110 to the unload position within the cylinder 110 in Block S142,thereby forcing the patty out of the cylinder 110 and onto the cookingsurface.

Once the patty is thus released from the cylinder 110 and the piston 120reaches the unload position, the primary actuator 141 can reverse.However, resistance between the piston 120 and the inner wall of thecylinder 110 can persist such that the first and second shafts areeffectively locked together, thereby causing the first shaft to rotateand the cylinder 110 to return to the upright position with the piston120 remaining in the unload position as the primary actuator 141 rotatesin the reverse direction. When the cylinder 110 returns to the uprightposition and contacts an upright stop, the primary actuator 141 cancease rotation, and the arm can return the cylinder 110 to the grindposition adjacent the grinder where a receiver adjacent the output ofthe grinder constrains the cylinder 110. When the grinder subsequentlyoutputs ground meat into the cylinder 110, the ground meat can force thepiston 120 from the unload position downward toward the load position,thereby rotating the second shaft, the planet gears, the ring gear, andthe output shaft of the primary actuator 141, as described below.

Alternatively, with the cylinder 110 in the dispense position, returnedto the upright position, and constrained against further rotation in thereverse direction by an upright stop, the sun gear in the planetarygearbox 145 can cease rotation, and the planet gears and planet arm canrotate with the ring gear as the primary actuator 141 continues toreverse direction, thereby rotating the second shaft and retracting thepiston 120 toward the load position, as described below.

As described below, the system 100 can include a controller 160 (shownin FIG. 1A) that intermittently sets forward and reverse speeds of theprimary actuator 141 based on the position of cylinder 110 and/or theposition of the piston 120 within the cylinder 110. In one example, thecontroller 160 monitors torque output of the primary actuator 141 todetermine the position of the cylinder 110 and/or the piston 120. Inthis example, for the cylinder 110 initially in the upright position andthe piston 120 initially in the load position at the beginning of adispense cycle, the controller 160 can correlate a first near-stepincrease in torque output of the primary actuator 141 with the cylinder110 hitting the invert stop in Block S140, and the controller 160 canthen correlate a subsequent near-step increase in torque output of theprimary actuator 141 with the piston 120 reaching the unload positionand hitting a travel limit in Block S142. In this example, thecontroller 160 can also correlate a drop in torque output of the primaryactuator 141 after the first step increase in torque output and beforethe second increase in torque output with release of a patty from thecylinder 110. Similarly, for the cylinder 110 initially in the invertedposition and the piston 120 initially in the unload position with theprimary actuator 141 rotating in the reverse direction, the controller160 can correlate a first near-step increase in torque output of theprimary actuator 141 with the cylinder 110 hitting the upright stop, andthe controller 160 can thus cease operation of the primary actuator 141and trigger the actuation system to retract the cylinder 110 into thegrind position.

Alternatively, the actuator system 140 can include one or more binarylimit switches, such as one binary limit switch that changes its outputstate when the cylinder 110 enters the upright position, one binarylimit switch that changes its output state when the cylinder 110 entersthe inverted position, one binary limit switch that changes its outputstate when the piston 120 enters the unload position, and one binarylimit switch that changes its output state when the piston 120 entersthe load position, and the controller 160 can set the speed androtational direction of the primary actuator 141 according to outputs ofthese limit switches. Yet alternatively, the actuator system 140 caninclude one or more encoders coupled to the primary actuator 141, to thering gear, to the sun gear, to a planet gear, to the first shaft, and/orto the second shaft, etc., and the controller 160 can sample theencoders to determine the positions of the cylinder 110 and the piston120 and can adjust the speed and direction of the primary actuator141—coupled to the cylinder 110 and to the piston 120—accordingly duringa dispense cycle in Blocks S140 and S142.

The primary actuator 141 can include a servo motor, a stepper motor, arotary pneumatic actuator, a rotary hydraulic actuator, or any othertype of actuator suitable to drive the cylinder 110 between the uprightand inverted positions and to drive the piston 120 between the load andunload positions. The actuator system 140 can also include multipleactuators, such as one electric motor that transitions the cylinder 110between the upright position and the inverted position independent of asecond electric motor that transitions the piston 120 between the loadposition and the unload position. The actuator(s) of the actuator system140 can be supported on the arm, such as adjacent the cylinder 110.Alternatively, the actuator(s) of the actuator system 140 can be remotefrom the cylinder 110, such as mounted on the exterior of the housingand coupled to the cylinder 110 and the piston 120 via one or moreflexible cables.

However, the cylinder 110, the piston 120, and the actuator system 140can be of any other form and can function in any other way to receive aquantity of ground meat during a grind cycle in Block S126 and to unloada hamburger patty during a dispense cycle in Blocks S140 and S142.

10. Arm

As described above, the system 100 can further include an arm 144 thatsupports the cylinder, and the actuation system can manipulate the arm144 to selectively displace the cylinder between the grind positionadjacent the grinder and the dispense position adjacent a cookingsurface. Generally, the arm 144 functions to support the cylinder on itsdistal end in both the grind position to receive ground meat during agrind cycle and in the dispense position to release ground meat—in theform of a hamburger patty onto an adjacent cooking surface external thehousing—during a dispense cycle.

The actuation system can further include a secondary actuator 142, suchas a rotary or linear motor, configured to rotate, extend, or retractthe arm 144 from the grind position to the dispense position and viceversa. For example, the secondary actuator 142 can include a servomotor, including an absolute encoder, and the proximal end of the arm144—opposite the cylinder—can be mounted to an output shaft of thesecondary actuator 142; when actuated, the second motor can thus pivotthe arm 144 to move the cylinder between the grind and dispensepositions.

In the foregoing implementation, the arm 144 sweeps the cylinder alongan arc between the grind position and the dispense position. In thisimplementation, the arm 144 can pivot a proximal end opposite thecylinder and can be driven by a rotary actuator coupled to the proximalend of the arm 144 by a shaft. An (optical) encoder can be directlycoupled to the shaft or driven off the shaft by a clutched or sprungcoupling. In this implementation, the arm 144 can also include acounterweight—opposite the cylinder from the shaft—that compensates forthe weight of the cylinder and the actuator system. In thisimplementation, the side door 192 can be hinged from the housing, andthe arm 144 can pivot the side door 192 open when transitioning thecylinder from the grind position to the dispense position.Alternatively, the side door 192 can be coupled to the arm 144 and sealagainst the housing when the arm 144 is in the grind position, and thedoor 192 can separate from the housing as the arm 144 pivots into thedispense position.

In another implementation, the arm 144 shuttles the cylinder linearlyfrom the load position, through the side door 192 of the housing, andinto the dispense position adjacent an external cooking surface. In thisimplementation, the arm 144 can include a linear slide that supports thecylinder (and the primary actuator), and the secondary actuator 142 caninclude a linear actuator that extends and retracts the linear slidebetween the grind and dispense positions.

11. Load Sensor

In one variation, the system 100 further includes a load sensor 162configured to output a signal corresponding to a mass or weight ofcontents in the cylinder. The system 100 can sample the load sensor 162during a weigh cycle, described below, to confirm that at least athreshold amount of ground meat has been loaded into the cylinder priorto a dispense cycle. The system 100 can additionally or alternativelysample the load sensor 162 during a grind cycle to track deflection ofthe cylinder away from the outlet of the grinder, which may then becorrelated with a complete loading of the cylinder and/or a level ofcompaction or density of ground meat in the cylinder, as describedbelow.

In one implementation, the cylinder, piston, and primary actuator areconstructed in a cylinder assembly hinged to the distal end of the arm,and the system 100 further includes a load cell arranged between thedistal end of the arm and the cylinder assembly and defining a pivotstop for the cylinder assembly. In this implementation, the weight ofthe cylinder assembly and the contents of the cylinder can compress theload cell, and the load cell can thus output a signal corresponding tothis weight of the cylinder assembly and its contents. In a similarimplementation, the arm can include a post extending vertically from itsdistal end, the load cell can be mounted to the distal end of the armadjacent the post, and the cylinder assembly can include a linear slidethat accepts and slides vertically along the post and can rest on theload cell; the load cell can thus output a signal corresponding to theweight of the cylinder assembly and its contents.

In another implementation, the arm defines a cantilevered beam, thecylinder assembly is mounted to the distal end of the cantilevered beam,and the load sensor 162 includes a strain gauge arranged on the beam, asshown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The controller can thus sample the load sensor162 to determine an amount (e.g., a mass, a weight) of ground meatcontained in the cylinder following a grind cycle.

In the variation described below in which the system 100 confirmscompletion of a grind cycle based on deflection of the arm, the loadsensor 162 can exhibit a relatively wide dynamic range. For example, theload sensor 162 can exhibit a resolution of approximately one-tenth gramover a range of 50 grams to 250 grams of mass loaded into the cylinder.In this example, the load sensor 162 can also exhibit a resolution ofapproximately 5 grams over a range of 5000 grams to 10,000 grams of loadapplied by the grinder to the cylinder as the grinder dispenses groundmeat into the cylinder during a grind cycle. The system 100 (e.g., thecontroller) can thus sample the single load cell during a grind cycleand a subsequent dispense cycle to confirm completion of a grind cycleand to confirm sufficient loading of the cylinder with ground meat,respectively. Alternatively, in this variation, the system 100 caninclude multiple load sensor 162 s, such as including: a strain gaugearranged along the arm and exhibiting a dynamic range sufficient totrack deflection of the arm during a grind cycle; and a load cellarranged between the distal end of the arm and the cylinder assembly andexhibiting a dynamic range sufficient to weigh the cylinder when thecylinder is arranged in a weigh position offset from the grinder duringa weigh cycle. However, the system 100 can include any other number andtype of load sensors arranged in any other way.

12. Shear Assembly

One variation of the system 100 further includes a shear assembly 170interposed between the outlet of the grinder and the rim top of thecylinder (in the grind position), operable between a retracted positionand an advanced position, and configured to transition from theretracted position to the advanced position following actuation of thegrinder during a grind cycle to separate a quantity of ground meatdispensed into the cylinder from ground meat remaining across the outletof the grinder.

In one implementation, the shear assembly 170 includes: a shear plate;and a linear actuator configured to drive a leading edge of the shearplate across the outlet of the grinder to sever ground meat in thecylinder from the grinder and configured to retract the shear plateprior to a next grind cycle to enable the cylinder to again be loadedwith ground meat. In this implementation, the actuator can retract theshear plate to permit ground meat to pass from the grinder into thecylinder below, and the shear actuator can advance the shear plate intothe advanced position between the cylinder and the grinder to severground meat in the cylinder from ground meat at the output of thegrinder prior to actuation of the secondary actuator to move thecylinder from the grind position to the weigh position. The leading edgeof the shear assembly 170 can include a straight, elliptical, orsemicircular blade with a straight or serrated profile, and the shearactuator can rapidly advance the shear plate into the advanced positionto separate the contents of the cylinder and the contents of thegrinder. In one example, the shear assembly includes a blade thatdefines a concave semicircular leading edge of radius equal to theinternal radius of the cylinder. In this example, this profile of theblade can enable the blade to cleanly shear ground meat from the outletof the grinder with the leading edge of the blade pushing a minimalamount of ground meat out of the cup. The leading edge of the blade canalso define a single bevel facing the cup such that a planar surface ofthe blade and its leading edge—facing the outlet of the grinder—contactthe grinder when actuated to yield relatively smooth operation of theshear assembly and cleaner shearing of ground meat from the grinder.Furthermore, the blade can extend laterally beyond the width of outletof the grinder and beyond the inlet of the cup such that the blade, whenactuated does not catch on an edge of the grinder or cup throughout itsrange of motion

Alternatively, the shear assembly 170 can include a rotary meat-slicingblade and an actuator configured to pass the rotary meat-slicing bladethrough a gap between the outlet of the grinder and the cylinder whilethe rotary meat-slicing blade rotates. Yet alternatively, the shearassembly 170 can include a hot wire and an actuator configured to passthe hot wire through the gap between the outlet of the grinder and thecylinder as current passing through the hot wire heats the hot wire.However, the shear assembly 170 can include any other structure andactuator configured to separate ground meat dispensed into the cylinderfrom meat remaining in the grinder.

13. Grind Cycle and Weigh Cycle

Block S124 of the method S100 recites positioning the cylinder in agrind position under a grinder; Block S126 of the method S100 recitesdispensing a quantity of ground meat from the grinder into the cylinderduring a grind cycle; and Block S130 of the method S100 recites, inresponse to a first load on the cylinder in the grind position exceedinga first threshold load, shifting the cylinder to a weigh position offsetfrom the grinder. Generally, the system 100: positions the cylinderunder (or adjacent) the outlet of the grinder in preparation to receiveground meat from the grinder in Block S124; actuates the grinder togrind whole portions of raw meat received from the hopper and todispense this raw ground (or “minced”) meat into the cylinder during agrind cycle; and executes a weigh cycle in Block S130 to confirm that asufficient quantity of ground meat was loaded in the cylinder.

13.1 Piston Displacement as Control

In one variation, the system 100 further includes a position sensor 164configured to output a signal corresponding to a position of the pistonwithin the cylinder. In this variation, the actuator system can returnthe piston to an unload position in preparation for a next grind cycle,and the grinder can cease dispensation of ground meat into the cylinderin response to an output of the position sensor 164 indicatingdisplacement of the piston downward to a load position (or a “targetposition) by ground meat dispensed into the cylinder by the grinder.Generally, in this variation, the system 100 tracks displacement of thepiston within the cylinder due to injection of ground meat into thecylinder by the grinder and concludes a grind cycle when the pistonreaches a load position corresponding to a target size (e.g., weight,mass, volume) of a hamburger patty.

In this variation, the system 100 can also include a controller thatreceives a request for a new hamburger patty (e.g., in the form of afood order) in Block S110 and then selectively actuates variousactuators within the system 100 to execute a grind cycle accordingly inBlocks S124 and S126. In one implementation, following a previousdispense cycle, the controller triggers the actuation system to returnthe cylinder to the grind position in Block S124 in preparation for anext grind cycle. With the cylinder now empty and supported in the grindposition, the controller triggers a relay to supply power to the grinderin Block S126 in response to a call for a new hamburger patty in BlockS110. While in operation, the grinder dispenses ground meat into thecylinder, which forces the piston downward and away from the outlet ofthe grinder, and the controller repeatedly samples the position sensor164 (e.g., an encoder coupled to the primary actuator or to the gearbox)to track the position of the piston within the cylinder. Once the pistonreaches a preset or recalculated load position (or approaches or passesthe load position, etc.), the controller ceases operation of the grinderto cease dispensation of ground meat into the cylinder and theninitiates a weigh cycle.

In this implementation, the controller can calculate or set the loadposition as a target displacement distance of the piston from the unloadposition (a target offset distance below the rim of the cylinder) toachieve a hamburger patty of a target weight, mass, or volume. Forexample, the controller can calculate a target displacement of thepiston by ground meat dispensed into the cylinder based on the knowncross-sectional area of the cylinder and historic densities of groundmeat loaded into the cylinder (or a preset static ground meat densityprediction), and then trigger the grinder to dispense ground meat intothe cylinder until the piston is driven down to this target positionduring a grind cycle. In this implementation, the controller canmaintain the actuator system in a deactivated (e.g., unpowered) stateand thus allow the piston, primary actuator, and gearbox or otherlinkage therebetween to passively resist deflection by ground meatdispensed into the cylinder. Once the piston is driven down to this loadposition and once the grinder ceases operation, the controller cantrigger the shear assembly to advance the shear plate to separate groundmeat in the cylinder from the ground meat at the outlet of the grinder.The controller can then trigger the secondary actuator to move thecylinder from the grind position to a weigh position offset (e.g.,laterally) from the outlet of the grinder and can sample the controller160 to confirm that at least a minimum weight of ground meat wasdispensed into the cylinder in Block S130. In this implementation, ifless than the minimum quantity (e.g., weight) of ground meat is detectedin the cylinder, the controller can trigger the secondary actuator toreturn the cylinder to the grind position, can calculate an adjustedtarget load position based on a difference between the actual and targetamounts of dispensed ground meat for the grind cycle, and can triggerthe relay to again supply power to the grinder until sufficient groundmeat is dispensed into the cylinder to drive the piston to the adjustedtarget load position.

The controller can repeat this process to weigh the cylinder and itscontents, calculate an adjusted load position, and add additional groundmeat to the cylinder until the target quantity of ground meat in thecylinder is achieved.

In one example, in response to receipt of a request for a hamburgerpatty at least 100 grams in mass (i.e., a “target mass”) in Block S110,the controller can set the target load position at 20.0 millimetersoffset from the unload position (e.g., at which the face of the pistonis offset 20.0 millimeters below the rim of the cylinder) based on aknown cross-sectional area of the cylinder and a preset approximatedensity of the type of meat stored in the hopper to achieve a quantityof meat between 100 grams and 110 grams in mass when the piston isdriven to the load position by ground meat dispensed into the cylinder.The controller then actuates the grinder in Block S126 until the pistonis displaced 20.0 millimeters from the unload position to the targetload position by ground meat dispensed into the cylinder during thegrind cycle. Upon completion of the grind cycle, the controller triggersthe secondary actuator to shift the cylinder to the weigh position andsamples the controller 160 to record a mass (or weight) of ground meatin the cylinder. In this example, if the output of the controller 160indicates that only 96 grams of meat is contained in the cylinderfollowing the grind cycle, the controller: adjusts the target loadposition to 21.0 mm offset below the unload position, which correspondsto a new prediction of 100.8 g of ground meat in the cylinder uponrealization of the adjusted load position; triggers the secondaryactuator to return the cylinder to the grind position; and againactuates the grinder until the piston is driven down to the adjustedload position. The controller then executes another weigh cycle to weighthe contents of the cylinder in Block S130. If the controller 160indicates that greater than 100 grams of ground meat are contained inthe cylinder, the controller can initiate a dispense cycle in BlocksS140, S142, and S144 to release the quantity of ground meat—in the formof a hamburger patty—onto a cooking surface for subsequent cooking.However, if the controller 160 indicates that less than 100 grams ofground meat are contained in the cylinder, the controller can repeat theforegoing process until the target quantity of ground meat is achieved.

Furthermore, in this implementation, the controller can record the lastadjusted load position to achieve the target quantity of ground meat andcan implement this last adjusted load position as the first loadposition in a next grind cycle for a subsequent order for a hamburgerpatty of the same weight (or mass). Similarly, if the actual weight (ormass) of a previous hamburger patty was (significantly) greater than thetarget weight (or mass) for the previous hamburger patty, the controllercan also calculate an adjusted load position for a next hamburger pattythat compensates for this overage in the previous hamburger patty. Thecontroller can also calculate an average weight (or mass) of ground meatper unit distance that the piston is displaced across a sequence ofhamburger patties and can calculate a target load position for a nexthamburger patty accordingly. For example, the system 100 can calculatethe average weight of ground meat dispensed per unit distance of pistondisplacement for a last ten hamburger patties formed by the system 100with the weight of the most-recent hamburger patty weighted more thanthe weight of a previous hamburger patty. The controller can also updatea lookup table or parametric model to reflect the actual weight ofground meat dispensed per unit of displacement of the piston during thelast grind cycle, as described below. The controller can thereforeimplement closed loop feedback controls and/or feed-forward controls tocalculate a target load position—for a next hamburger patty—thataccounts for natural variations in density and composition of meat tomaintain a high initial accuracy of weight (or mass) of ground meatdispensed into the cylinder for each subsequent hamburger patty.

13.2 Piston Displacement as Control with Density Control

In another implementation, the system 100 actively controls the primaryactuator to resist displacement of the piston during a grind cycle inorder to control a pressure within the cylinder as the grinderdischarges ground meat into the cylinder. Generally, the system 100 canimplement methods and techniques to control the density of a quantity ofground meat, such as to achieve a preset hamburger patty density or toachieve a hamburger patty density corresponding to a doneness levelspecified in a custom food order. In particular, by actively controllingdisplacement of the piston away from the outlet of the grinder during agrind cycle, the system 100 can force ground meat discharged from thegrinder to compress between the piston and the outlet of the grinder,thereby reducing voids (e.g., air pockets) within the quantity ofdispensed ground meat and yielding control over the density of thisquantity of ground meat in the cylinder.

In this implementation, the controller can initiate a grind cycle withthe piston in the unload position at or proximal the top of thecylinder. Throughout the dispense cycle, the controller can: monitor thecurrent draw of the primary actuator coupled to the piston; sample aposition sensor 164 (e.g., an optical encoder) coupled to the primaryactuator (or to the piston, to the gearbox); and transform the currentdraw of the primary actuator and the position of the piston within thecylinder into a predicted density of the quantity of ground meat in thecylinder. For example, the controller can pass the current draw of theprimary actuator and the position of the piston into a lookup table orinto a parametric model defining a relationship between these currentdraw, piston position, and ground meat density for the type of meatcurrently loaded into the hopper.

In a similar example, the controller can calculate a torque output ofthe primary actuator based on the current draw of the primary actuatorand then calculate a pressure within the cylinder based on the torqueoutput of the primary actuator, a gear reduction between the primaryactuator and the piston, the cross-sectional area of the piston, and theposition of the piston within the cylinder (e.g., given that the torqueoutput by the primary actuator is transferred into a linear force at thepiston as a function of the position of a crank connecting the same). Inthis example, the controller can select a target density of thehamburger patty based on a doneness level specified for the hamburgerpatty, can access or calculate a target pressure within the cylindercorrelated with this target density, and can then modulate an amount ofpower supplied to the primary actuator in order to achieve this targetpressure within the cylinder.

The system 100 can set a target density for the hamburger patty, such asa general target density or a target density corresponding to a donenesslevel specified in a custom food order, and the controller can implementclosed-loop feedback techniques to control the position of the pistonwithin the cylinder—via the actuator system—during a grind cycle toachieve this target density. The controller can thus: set a targetamount of resistance to displacement of the piston by dispensed groundmeat (e.g., in the form of a torque output of the primary actuator orpower supplied to the primary actuator) during a grind cycle based on atarget density of the hamburger patty.

Throughout the grind cycle, ground meat dispensed into the cylinder candrive the piston downward, as described above, and the controller cantrack an offset distance from the rim of the cylinder to the face of thepiston, such as based on the position of the primary actuator. Thecontroller can then multiply this offset distance by a knowncross-sectional area of the cylinder and a predicted density of theground meat at the current pressure within the cylinder (such as storedin a lookup table) to predict a total mass of ground meat in thecylinder. The controller can then conclude the grind cycle and initiatea weigh cycle once the calculated total mass of ground meat in thecylinder equals, exceeds, or falls within a threshold range of thetarget size (e.g., target mass) of the hamburger patty.

During the weigh cycle, the controller can: calculate a swept volume ofthe piston based on a known cross-sectional area of the cylinder and thefinal position of the piston in the cylinder upon conclusion of thegrind cycle; and calculate an actual density of the quantity of groundmeat based on the actual mass (or weight) of ground meat in the cylinderand the swept volume of the cylinder; calculate an adjusted target motorcurrent draw or adjusted target motor output torque to achieve thetarget density of ground meat in the cylinder based on the differencebetween actual and target densities for the ground meat; and update alookup table or parametric model linking motor current draw or motoroutput torque to density of ground meat loaded into the cylinder. If theactual density of the quantity of ground meat is less than a thresholddensity but the total mass (or weight) of ground meat in the cylinder isgreater than a threshold quantity, the controller can return thecylinder to the grind position, advance the shear assembly, and triggerthe primary actuator to rack the piston to the adjusted target motorcurrent draw or to the adjusted target motor output torque in order tocompress the quantity of meat between the piston and the shear plate, asdescribed below. However, if the total mass (or weight) of the quantityof meat is less than the threshold quantity, the controller can triggerthe secondary actuator to return the cylinder to the grind position andcan actuate the grinder until an adjusted target load position—describedabove—is achieved at the adjusted target motor current draw or motoroutput torque. The controller can repeat this process until at least thetarget quantity of ground meat is determined to have beendispensed—within a threshold density range—into the cylinder beforeexecuting a dispense cycle. Otherwise, if the result of the weigh cycleindicates that more than the target quantity of ground meat wasdispensed into the cylinder at a density greater than a thresholddensity, the controller can initiate a dispense cycle.

13.3 Time as Control

In another implementation, upon receipt of a request for a hamburgerpatty in Block S110, the controller calculates a load position for thepiston based on a known cross-sectional area of the cylinder, a lastmeasured density (or an average density, a preset predicted density) ofground meat output by the grinder, and a size of the hamburger pattyspecified in the request, as shown in FIG. 11. The controller can alsoestimate a grind duration based on the size (e.g., a target mass) of thehamburger patty and a last measured mass flow rate (or an average massflow rate, a preset predicted mass flow rate) of ground meat from thegrinder. In this implementation, the actuator system returns thecylinder to the grind position and retracts the piston back to thetarget load position in preparation to grind and press the nexthamburger patty, and the controller then actuates the grinder for thegrind duration to fill the cylinder with a quantity of ground meat. Forexample, the controller can also initiate a timer for the grind durationonce the grinder is actuated, cease actuation of the timer once thetimer expires, trigger the shear assembly to separate contents of thecylinder from the output of the grinder (as described below), actuatethe secondary actuator to move the cylinder out of the grind positionand into the weigh position, and sample the controller 160 to confirmthat at least a minimum weight of ground meat was dispensed into thecylinder.

In this implementation, if less than the minimum weight of ground meatis measured in the cylinder, the controller can: calculate an actualmass flow rate of ground meat during the preceding grind cycle;calculate a secondary grind duration based on the actual mass flow rateof ground meat from the grinder and a difference between the actual andthreshold quantity of ground meat; trigger the secondary actuator toreturn the cylinder to the grind position; and actuate the grinder forthe secondary grind duration. The controller can then repeat thisprocess until at least the threshold quantity of ground meat in thecylinder is measured.

In one example of the foregoing implementation, the controller receivesa request for a patty of a mass of at least 100 grams. However, if theactual mass of contents in the cylinder after an initial grind durationof 5.0 seconds yields only 95 grams of meat in the cylinder, thecontroller can update a grind duration to grind 100 grams of ground meatfrom 5.0 seconds to 5.3 seconds, return the cylinder to the grindposition, and actuate the grinder for a secondary grind duration of 0.3seconds (i.e., the difference between the original and the updated grinddurations). The controller can thus predict a new mass of 100.7 grams ofground meat in the cylinder upon conclusion of the secondary grindduration and can sample the controller 160 during a succeeding weighcycle to confirm this prediction. If greater than 100 grams of groundmeat are thus detected in the cylinder, the controller can initiate adispense cycle to release the quantity of ground meat for cooking.Otherwise, the controller can repeat the forgoing process until theminimum mass (or weight) of ground meat is loaded into the cylinder, asshown in FIG. 11.

As described above, the controller can feed mass flow rate datacollected over the course of one or more grind cycles forward tocalculate a grind duration for a next hamburger patty in order tomaintain a relatively high degree of accuracy in the initial mass (orweight) of ground meat dispensed into the cylinder, such as tocompensate for different densities and compositions of whole portions ofmeat loaded into the hopper over time.

Furthermore, in this and the preceding implementations, if an output ofthe controller 160 indicates that significantly greater than the targetmass of ground meat has been dispensed into the cylinder, the arm canreturn the cylinder to the grind position, and the controller cantrigger the actuator system to drive the piston back toward the unloadposition (with the shear plate in the retracted position), therebyreturning a portion of the contents of the cylinder back into thegrinder. The controller can then trigger the shear assembly to move intothe advanced position, thereby severing the contents of the cylinderfrom the grinder, and the controller can implement methods describedabove to again test the mass (or weight) of ground meat in the cylinder.For example, the controller can: determine a weight of a first quantityof ground meat based on an output of the controller 160 upon conclusionof a first grind cycle; trigger the actuation system to execute a firstdispense cycle in response to the weight of the first quantity of groundmeat exceeding a minimum weight threshold; calculate a second grindduration based on a difference between the target weight of thehamburger patty and the weight of the first quantity of ground meat andtrigger the grinder to dispense additional ground meat into the cylinderfor the second grind duration if actual weight of the first quantity ofground meat is less than the minimum weight threshold for the hamburgerpatty, as shown in FIG. 11; and estimate a third grind duration to forma second hamburger patty in a subsequent grind cycle based on a sum ofthe first grind duration and the second grind duration.

13.4 Grind Cycle: Cylinder Load as Control

In another implementation, the system 100 determines an amount anddensity of ground meat dispensed into the cylinder during a grind cyclebased on deflection of the cylinder away from the grinder, as shown inFIG. 10. Generally, in this implementation: the controller can calculatea load position for the piston based on a target size and/or density ofa hamburger patty; the arm includes a beam supporting the cylinder on acantilevered end of the beam just below the outlet of the grinder in thegrind position; the controller 160 can output a signal corresponding todeflection of the beam from an unloaded position; the primary actuatorconstrains the piston in load position during a corresponding grindcycle; the grinder grinds meat into the cylinder, wherein proximity ofthe top of cylinder to the outlet of the grinder limits discharge ofground meat over the rim of the cylinder and enables pressure within thecylinder to rise during the grind cycle; and the grinder can ceasedispensation of ground meat into the cylinder in response to an outputof the controller 160 exceeding a threshold value correlated withpredicted deflection of the beam at complete loading of the cylinder fora given quantity and/or density of ground meat in the cylinder.

The controller can thus calculate a target load on the arm (ordeflection distance of the arm) for the cylinder to achieve the presetor target density for the hamburger patty. In particular, as the grinderfills the cylinder with ground meat during a grind cycle, ground meataccumulating in the cylinder forces the cylinder away from the outlet ofthe grinder, and the controller 160 outputs a signal corresponding tosuch load on (or deflection of) the cylinder relative to the outlet ofthe grinder. For example, the controller can pass a target density forthe hamburger patty and the offset distance of the piston below the rimof the cylinder (i.e., the “load position”) into a parametric modelspecific to a type of meat loaded into the hopper in order to calculatea target load on (or target deflection distance for) the cylinder totrigger conclusion of a grind cycle.

During the grind cycle, the controller can thus sample the controller160 to track such load on (or deflection of) the cylinder (or load, etc.on the cylinder) and can conclude the grind cycle once the measureddeflection of the cylinder (or load on the cylinder) exceeds the targetdeflection distance. Upon conclusion of the grind cycle, the controllercan execute a weigh cycle, as described above. In particular, if theweight of ground meat in the cylinder is less than the target weight ofground meat specified in a corresponding food order, the controller cancalculate an adjusted (i.e., greater) offset distance between the pistonand the rim of the cylinder, shift the piston to this adjusted offsetdistance, return the cylinder to the grind position, and actuate thegrinder until the output of the controller 160 indicates that the targetload on (or deflection of) the cylinder has been achieved beforerepeating the weigh cycle. During a weigh cycle, the controller can alsocalculate an actual density of the quantity of ground meat in thecylinder, as described above, and update a target load on (or targetdeflection of) the cylinder to achieve the target density—such as in alookup table or in a parametric model—commensurate with a differencebetween the predicted density and the actual density of the quantity ofground meat dispensed into the cylinder, and the system 100 canimplement this adjusted target load (or target deflection distance) whenadding additional ground meat to the cylinder in a second grind cycle.

However, if the measured quantity of ground meat in the cylinder meetsor exceeds the target quantity, the system 100 can follow the weighcycle with a dispense cycle. The system 100 can also implement methodsand techniques described above to revise the offset distance between thepiston and the rim of the cylinder and/or to revise the target load on(or deflection of) the cylinder—such as in a lookup table or in aparametric model—in order to achieve greater precision in the quantityand density of ground meat dispensed into the cylinder during a nextgrind cycle for a next hamburger patty, as shown in FIG. 10.

As described above, the controller can sample the controller 160 whilethe cylinder is in the grind position to determine a load on (ordeflection of) the cylinder during a grind cycle, and the controller cansample the same controller 160 (or a second controller 160) while thecylinder is in the weigh position to determine a weight or mass ofground meat in the cylinder during a weigh cycle. For example, in thisimplementation, the method S100 can further include Block S160, whichrecites, in response to the second threshold load corresponding to thetarget size of the meat patty exceeding the second load on the cylinderin the weigh position: calculating an adjusted first threshold load onthe cylinder in the grind position based on a difference between thesecond load and the second threshold; returning the cylinder to thegrind position; dispensing additional ground meat from the grinder intothe cylinder; and storing the adjusted first threshold load forimplementation in a subsequent grind cycle for a subsequent meat patty.In this example, in response to a third load on the cylinder in thegrind position exceeding the adjusted first threshold load, the system100 can shift the cylinder to the weigh position in Block S130 and thenexecute the dispense cycle in Blocks S140, S142, and S144 in response toa fourth load on the cylinder in the weigh position exceeding the secondthreshold load.

14. Patty Compression

In one variation, upon conclusion of a grind cycle and before initiationof a weight cycle or a dispense cycle, the primary actuator can drivethe piston toward the shear plate to compress the quantity of groundmeat currently in the cylinder between the piston and the shear plate inorder to form a hamburger patty. For example, upon conclusion of a grindcycle, the controller can trigger the shear assembly to advance theshear plate and then trigger the primary actuator to drive the pistonupward by a target distance in order to achieve a patty compaction levelcorresponding to a doneness level specified for the hamburger patty in afood order.

The system 100 can implement similar methods and techniques to compact aquantity of ground meat following confirmation that at least the targetamount of ground meat has been loaded into the cylinder in Block S130.In particular, in the foregoing implementations, once the target mass(or weight) of ground meat is confirmed in the cylinder, the controllercan trigger the actuator system to compress the ground meat into atighter-packed patty by closing the open end of the cylinder with theshear plate (or other feature or element within the system 100) and thendriving the piston back toward the top of the cylinder. In one example,once the minimum amount of ground meat is dispensed into the cylinder:the secondary actuator can return the cylinder to the grind position;the controller can set the shear plate in the advanced position betweenthe output of the grinder and the open end of the cylinder; and theprimary actuator can apply a torque to the second shaft to drive thepiston upward, thereby compressing the ground meat between the pistonand the shear plate. In this example, the controller can monitor powerdraw of the primary actuator and/or the torque output of the primaryactuator and can trigger the primary actuator to drive the piston upwarduntil a target torque output of the primary actuator—corresponding to atarget patty compression—is detected. Similarly, the controller cansample a position sensor 164 within the actuator system and can actuatethe primary actuator to drive the piston upward by a target distance(e.g., 2.0 millimeters) or by a target percentage of the distancebetween the top of the cylinder and the face of the piston in the finalload position (e.g., 15%) to achieve a target compression of the groundmeat into a hamburger patty. The system 100 can thus control the densityand/or compaction of a quantity of ground meat in the cylinder during agrind cycle or upon conclusion of a grind cycle.

15. Dispense Cycle

Upon confirmation that a sufficient amount of ground meat has beenloaded into the cylinder, the system 100 can execute a dispense cycle.Generally, during a dispense cycle, the system 100 can: invert thecylinder in Block S140; and drive the piston toward the top of thecylinder in Block 142.

In one implementation, the housing 190 includes: an opening between thegrind position adjacent the grinder and a dispense position over acooking surface (or other surface configured to receive a raw hamburgerpatty from the cylinder); a door 192 configured to close the opening;and a door actuator configured to selectively open and close the doors.In this implementation, the controller can: trigger the door actuator toopen the door; then trigger the secondary actuator to rotate the arm,thereby positioning the cylinder outside of the housing and into thedispense position; and finally trigger the primary actuator to invertthe cylinder in Block S140 and to drive the piston into the unloadposition in Block S142, thereby discharging the quantity of ground meatfrom the cylinder. In this implementation, the door can be split, asshown in FIG. 10; after opening both sides of the door and advancing thecylinder out of the housing, the door actuator can return a first sideof the door to a closed position during the dispense cycle in order topreserve a cool environment within the housing. To return the cylinderto the grind position in preparation to form a next hamburger patty, thesystem 100 can open the first side of the door, retract the cylinderback into the housing, and then return both sides of the door to theirclosed positions. Furthermore, in this implementation, the sides of thedoors can mate along adjacent inclined surfaces, and the door actuatorcan drive an upper side of the door downward onto the lower side of thedoor to seal the mating surfaces of the sides of the door and to seatthe perimeter of the door in a receiver around the opening in thehousing in order to limit air exchange between the interior of thehousing and an external environment throughout operation of the system100.

However, the housing can include doors that are hinged and sprung closedor actively or passively opened and closed in any other suitable way,and the system 100 can open and close the door(s) in any other sequenceduring a dispense cycle to limit air exchange between the interior ofthe housing and an external environment.

In one variation, the method S100 further includes Block S150, whichrecites, following the dispense cycle, recording a third load on thecylinder in the weigh position and confirming dispensation of thequantity of ground meat from the cylinder based on the second loadexceeding the third load. Generally, in this variation, the system 100can execute a post-dispense weigh cycle like a weigh cycle describedabove to confirm that all (or at least most) of the quantity of groundmeat previously loaded in the cylinder was dispensed during thepreceding dispense cycle. For example, the controller can store abaseline load on the cylinder or on the arm (e.g., in the form of abaseline output value of the controller 160) corresponding to an emptycylinder, and the controller can check that the load on the cylinder oron the arm has returned to this baseline load (or to within a thresholdrange of this baseline) following a dispense cycle. In this example, ifa result of the post-dispense weigh cycle indicates that none (or lessthan 10%) of the quantity of ground meat was released from the cylinderduring the dispense cycle, the system 100 can repeat the dispense cycleto attempt another release. However, if the result of the post-dispenseweigh cycle indicates that between 10% and 90% of the quantity of groundmeat remains in the cycle, the system 100 can discard the remainder ofthe ground meat in the cylinder, such as by repeating the dispensecycle, and then issuing an alarm to the automated foodstuff assemblyapparatus to discard the hamburger patty due to possible fragmentationduring the initial dispense cycle.

However, the system 100 can handle dispensation of a quantity of groundmeat from the cylinder in any other suitable way in Blocks S140, S140,and S150.

16. Gas Supply

One variation of the system 100 further includes a gas supply 150:configured to supply gas to the cylinder behind the piston at a firstpressure during the grind cycle to limit ingress of ground meat into thegas ports 122, as shown in FIG. 8; and configured to supply gas to thecylinder behind the piston at a second pressure greater than the firstpressure during the dispense cycle to dislodge the quantity of groundmeat from the piston, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. Generally, the gassupply 150 functions to supply gas (e.g., air, humidified air, nitrogen,or another inert gas, etc.) to a chamber in the cylinder behind thepiston and through ports in the face of the piston at a relatively highflow rate (or at a relatively high pressure) during a dispense cycle inorder to separate the quantity of ground meat from the face of thepiston, thereby aiding release of the quantity of ground meat from thecylinder during the dispense cycle. Furthermore, to prevent meat orrelated moisture from entering the ports and soiling the chamber behindthe piston, the gas supply 150 can also displace gas into the chamberbehind the piston at a relatively low flow rate (or at a relatively lowpressure) throughout other periods of operation (e.g., grind cycles,weigh cycles).

The gas supply 150 can thus execute Block S122 of the method S100, whichrecites displacing gas into a chamber in the cylinder behind the pistonat a first pressure during a grind cycle, and Block S124, which recitesdisplacing gas into the chamber at a second pressure greater than thefirst pressure to dispense the quantity of ground meat, in the form of apatty, from the cylinder during a dispense cycle.

In one implementation, the gas supply 150 includes a reservoircontaining pressurized gas, a first valve 151 fluidly coupled to thereservoir and to the cylinder, a first pressure regulator set to a firstpressure and interposed between the reservoir and the first valve 151, asecond valve 152 fluidly coupled to the reservoir and to the cylinder,and a second pressure regulator set to a second pressure greater thanthe first pressure and interposed between the reservoir and the secondvalve 152, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 10. The gas supply 150 can alsoinclude a conduit extending from the valve(s) to a flexible line tappedinto the cylinder behind the piston; the flexible line can deform as thecylinder is inverted and righted throughout operation, and the conduitand flexible line can cooperate to communicate pressurized gas from thevalve(s) to the cylinder. Alternatively, the second shaft—passing intothe cylinder and coupled to the piston via a crank and connectingrod—can be hollow and can include a port that communicates gas from thehollow center of the second shaft to the chamber behind the piston; theconduit can thus be substantially rigid and can be coupled to the secondshaft via a rotatable seal to communicate pressurized gas from thevalve(s) into the cylinder. However, the gas supply 150 can be fluidlycoupled to the cylinder in any other way.

In the foregoing implementation, the controller can selectively open thefirst valve 151 for a first duration of time during the grind cycle(e.g., for the entirety of the grind cycle and subsequent weigh cycle)in order to limit ingress of meat and fluids past the piston; and thecontroller can selectively open the second valve 152 for a secondduration of time less than the first duration of time during thedispense cycle (e.g., for a burst of one second) in order to dislodgethe quantity of meat from the cylinder.

Alternatively, the gas supply 150 can include a pump, and the controllercan selectively activate the pump to pump gas (e.g., air) into thecylinder at different pressures or at different flow rates based on thecurrent state of the system 100, such as whether the system 100 iscurrently in a grind cycle or in a dispense cycle. However, the gassupply 150 can include any other one or more reservoirs, valves, and/orpumps configured to supply gas to the cylinder at two or more flow ratesor pressures throughout operation of the system 100.

17. Mixed-Meat Patty

In one variation, the system 100 is configured to form a hamburger pattyfrom multiple types of meat. In this variation, the system 100 includesa set of grinder modules arranged within the housing, wherein eachgrinder module includes a hopper and a grinder and is configured togrind and dispense a unique type of meat (e.g., beef, lamb, chicken, orturkey, etc.) or a unique meat blend (e.g., 80% beef and 20% turkey, 50%lamb and 50% bison).

In one implementation, the system 100 includes a magazine 186 supportingeach of the grinder modules and configured to selectively position eachgrinder module in the grind position over the cylinder based on acallout for a particular meat type or combination of meat types in afood order received in Block S110. Generally, in this implementation,the controller can trigger the magazine 186 to selectively reposition aparticular grinder module into the grind position and can selectivelyactuate its grinder to dispense a volume of ground meat of thecorresponding meat type from the particular grinder module into thecylinder. For example, the housing can include a first grinder moduleloaded with whole portions of beef, a second grinder module loaded withwhole portions of lamb, and a third grinder module loaded with wholeportions of turkey. In this example, upon receipt of an order for ahamburger with a 30%-beef and 70%-turkey hamburger patty, the controllercan: index the first grinder module into the grind position; actuate thefirst grinder actuator for a first calculated grind duration (describedabove) sufficient to achieve 30% of the target weight of the hamburgerpatty in beef or until the piston is displaced—by ground beef—by 30% ofthe distance toward the final calculated load position for the targetsize of the hamburger patty during a first grind cycle; execute a firstweigh cycle to confirm the amount of beef loaded into the cylinder, asdescribed above; and trigger the magazine 186 to index the third grindermodule into the grind position. The system 100 can then actuate thethird grinder for a second calculated grind duration sufficient toachieve 70% of the target weight of the hamburger patty in turkey oruntil the piston is displaced—by ground turkey—to the final calculatedload position for the target size of the hamburger patty during a secondgrind cycle; execute a second weigh cycle to confirm the amount ofturkey loaded into the cylinder; and then execute a dispense cycle torelease the mixed-meat hamburger patty onto an adjacent cooking surface.Thus, in this implementation, the system 100 can create a singlehamburger patty with multiple layers of distinct types of meat.

In the foregoing implementation, the system 100 can layer distinct typesof meat in the patty based on preferred cooking temperatures for thedistinct types of meats supported in the housing and can interface withan external cooking surface to cook distinct meat types in one patty atcorresponding preferred temperatures. For the example above in which thesystem 100 forms a hamburger patty with a 30%-beef lower layer and a70%-turkey upper layer, the system 100 can invert and dispense thehamburger patty beef-side up into a double-sided griddle; the automatedfoodstuff assembly apparatus can then bring an upper cooking surface ofthe double-sided griddle into contact with the beef-side of the pattyand heat the upper cooking surface to a preferred temperature forcooking beef (e.g., 450° F.). The automated foodstuff assembly apparatuscan also bring a lower cooking surface of the double-sided griddle—incontact with the turkey-side of the patty—to a preferred temperature forcooking turkey (e.g., 410° F.).

Alternatively, in this variation, the system 100 can include a mixerconfigured to mix contents of the cylinder once a particular ratio ofvarious meat types is dispensed into the cylinder. For example, once aspecified amount of two or more distinct meat types is dispensed fromtwo or more grinder modules into the cylinder, the arm can advance thecylinder to a mix position adjacent the mixer (e.g., between the grindposition and the dispense position), and the mixer can mix the contentsof the cylinder, such as for a preset period of time or until athreshold uniformity is reached. The actuation system can then returnthe cylinder to the grind position, the shear assembly can advance theshear plate over the cylinder, and the actuator system can rack thepiston (i.e., drive the piston upward) to compress the patty, asdescribed above, prior to dispensing the mixed-meat patty onto a cookingsurface.

In this variation each grinder module can include discrete actuatorsconfigured to drive its upper and lower augers and to actuate itsgrinder. Alternatively, the system 100 can include a single set of augerand grinder actuators configured to engage corresponding input shafts ofa hopper and a grinder of a particular grinder module when the magazine186 positions the particular grinder module in the grind position.

In a similar implementation, the system 100 can include a set of staticgrinder modules, and the arm can selectively transition the cylinder todispense positions at each grinder module to collect a target amount ofground meat from each grinder module, such as based on a specificationfor hamburger patty composition included in a custom food order receivedfrom a patron in Block S110. The controller can thus trigger thesecondary actuator to sequentially position the cylinder into selectdispense positions adjacent each grinder module based on meat typesloaded into each grinder module and based on an order for a hamburgerpatty specifying particular amounts (e.g., percentages, masses, volumes)of such meat types.

18. Multiple Hoppers

In one variation shown in FIG. 8, the system 100 includes: a set ofhoppers 180, wherein each hopper in the set of hoppers 180 is configuredto store whole portions of meat, defines an outlet configured to coupleto an inlet of the grinder, and includes a hopper piston opposite theoutlet; a magazine 186 configured to support each hopper in the set ofhoppers 180 and to selectively position each hopper, in the set ofhoppers 180, in a discharge position to supply whole portions of meat tothe grinder; and a hopper actuator configured to drive a hopper pistonof a hopper in the discharge position toward the grinder to feed wholeportions of meat into the grinder.

Generally, in this variation, the system 100 includes multiple hoppersconfigured to individually feed whole portions of meat into a singlegrinder. In particular, each hopper can be loaded with a quantity ofunground meat and then loaded into the magazine 186; when a first hopperin the set is fully emptied of meat, the magazine 186 can index themagazine 186 forward to replace the now-empty first hopper with a fullsecond hopper in order, as shown in FIG. 8, to enable the system 100 tocontinue to form hamburger patties (e.g., according to the method S100)without pause.

In one implementation, each hopper includes a tube, such as a tube orcylinder cross-section defining an outlet; and a piston arranged withinthe tube opposite the outlet. In this implementation, the hopper can beloaded with whole portions of raw meat between the piston and the outletand then installed in the magazine 186 inside the housing along withother like hoppers. In this implementation, the hopper actuator caninclude a linear actuator; thus, when the magazine 186 positions aparticular hopper in the set in a discharge position, the outlet of theparticular hopper can be aligned with and sealed over an inlet of thegrinder, and the linear actuator can engage the piston opposite thewhole portions of raw meat and can drive the piston toward the outlet ofthe particular hopper in order to drive whole portions of raw meat intothe grinder, as shown in FIG. 9. Alternatively, the hopper actuator caninclude a pressure chamber configured to seal over the rear of theparticular hopper in the discharge position and that is configured topressurize a volume behind the piston in order to drive the pistontoward the inlet of the grinder, as shown in FIG. 8. In thisimplementation, once the piston in the particular hopper in thedischarge position is fully advanced to the outlet of the particularhopper such that few or no whole portions of raw meat remain in thehopper, the controller can trigger the magazine 186 to index theparticular hopper to a discard position and to (simultaneously) advancea second hopper—currently filled with whole portions of raw meat—intothe discrete position. The hopper actuator can then similarly advancethe piston of the second hopper forward, as described above. The system100 can repeat this process over time as the hoppers in the magazine 186are emptied.

Alternatively, in this variation, hoppers installed in the magazine 186can be loaded with different types of meat, and the magazine 186 canselectively position a hopper in the discharge position based on a typeof meat loaded into the hopper and a type of meat specified for ahamburger patty currently in process, as shown in FIG. 9. In thisvariation, because remnants of a first type of meat may remain in thegrinder after a first hopper in the discharge position is replaced witha second hopper containing a second type of meat, the system 100 canfurther include an intermediate container 112 configured to collectground meat remnants from the grinder between a hopper exchange cycle inwhich the magazine 186 exchanges one hopper containing one type of meatfor another hopper containing another type of meat during an exchangecycle. For example, the intermediate container 112 can define a cup ofsufficient internal volume substantially equivalent to an internal openvolume of the grinder such that the intermediate container 112 can holdsubstantially all ground meat discharged from the grinder during anexchange cycle. The intermediate container 112 can be supported on asecond arm configured to selectively position the intermediate container112 under the outlet of the grinder to receive ground meat from thegrinder during an exchange cycle and configured to retract theintermediate container 112 from the grinder to permit the actuationsystem to move the cylinder into the grind position. The second arm canbe actuated by a second actuation system, and the second actuationsystem can also be configured to elevate the intermediate container 112over the cylinder and to invert the intermediate container 112 todispense contents of the intermediate container 112 into the cylinder,such as in response to receipt of a request for a hamburger pattycontaining a meat type previously dispensed into the intermediatecontainer 112 during a former exchange cycle. The intermediate container112 and the second actuator system can thus define a structuresubstantially similar to the cylinder and the actuation system and cancooperate with the cylinder and the actuation system to recycle groundmeat of a first type—previously discharged from the grinder during adischarge cycle in preparation to grind another meat type dispensed fromanother hopper—by returning this ground meat to the cylinder to form ahamburger patty of the first meat type. Alternatively, as shown in FIG.9, the system 100 can include an intermediate container 112 defining asecond cylinder and a second piston and including a second actuatorsystem like the cylinder, the piston, and the actuator system describedabove, and the system 100 can selectively position the cylinder and thesecond cylinder in the grind position to form hamburger patties and tostore ground meat discharged from the grinder during an exchange cyclebased on meat types specified in a food order received in Block S110.

In one example: the set of hoppers 180 includes a first hoppercontaining whole portions of meat of a first type and a second hoppercontaining whole portions of meat of a second type distinct from thefirst type; and, in response to receipt of a food order specifying meatof the second type when the first hopper is in the discharge position,the grinder grinds remnants of meat of the first type contained in thegrinder into the intermediate canister, the magazine 186 exchanges thefirst hopper for the second hopper, the hopper actuator drives thehopper piston of the second hopper toward the outlet of the secondhopper, the grinder grinds whole portions of meat of the second typeinto the cylinder, and the system 100 implements methods and techniquesdescribed above to form, weigh, and dispense the quantity of meat of thesecond type.

The system 100 can therefore include multiple hoppers containing varioustypes of meat, and the system 100 can trigger the magazine 186 toselectively position these hoppers in the discharge position to servewhole portions of ground meat to the grinder based on a food orderspecifying a hamburger patty of one or more meat types. However, thesystem 100 can include any other number and/or form of hoppers,grinders, cylinders, intermediate canisters, and/or actuator systems toenable the system 100 to form hamburger patties containing various typesof meat.

19. Cylinder Variations

In one variation, the system 100 excludes the piston, and the cylinderdefines a frustoconical internal volume that is tapered verticallydownward in the upright position. In this variation, the actuator systemcan further include a vibrator assembly (e.g., a rotary motor and arotating eccentric mass) that is actuated as the actuator system invertsthe cylinder to dispense a patty contained therein onto an adjacentcooking surface, thereby oscillating the patty at a relatively highfrequency and low amplitude to release the patty from the cylinder. Inthis variation, the actuator system can also jostle the cylinder at arelatively low frequency and at a relatively high amplitude once thecylinder is inverted to further coax the patty out of the cylinderduring a dispense cycle.

In a similar variation, the system 100 excludes the piston and theactuator system, and the cylinder defines a frustoconical internalvolume that is tapered vertically upward. In this variation, the system100 includes a vibrator assembly coupled to the arm, and the controlleractivates the vibrator assembly when the cylinder is in the dispenseposition to coax a patty contained therein out of the cylinder and ontoan adjacent cooking surface during a dispense cycle.

In another variation, the cylinder includes split halves, and thecylinder actuator system selectively opens the halves of the cylinder torelease a patty contained therein onto an adjacent cooking surface.

However, the cylinder can define any other suitable geometry, and thepatty grinding system can include any other actuator or subsystem todislodge a patty from the cylinder and to release the patty onto anadjacent cooking surface.

20. Alternative Arm Assembly

With reference to FIGS. 12-21, an arm assembly 210 is provided that canreplace the arm 144 and cylinder 110 in the system 100. The arm assembly210 may include an actuator 212, a first arm portion 214 pivotablyconnected to the actuator 212, a second arm portion 216 pivotablyconnected to the first arm portion 214, and a cylinder 218 rotatablyconnected to the second arm portion 216. The arm assembly 210 is movablebetween a first position (FIG. 12) in which the cylinder 218 receives apatty 202 (e.g., a food product such as hamburger or other ground meat,ground vegetarian food product, etc.) from a food dispenser (e.g., thegrinder 130) and a second position (FIG. 13) in which the patty isejected from the cylinder 218 onto a cooking surface 204 (e.g., aninduction cooker, an electric resistance-heated surface, a flame-heatedfrying surface, a flame-grilling surface, etc.).

In some embodiments, an extruding plate (e.g., a plate with a pluralityof apertures, as shown in FIG. 2) may be provided on a lower end of thegrinder 130 such that the grinder forces food product through theapertures in the extruding plate. The food product falls from theextruding plate into the cylinder 218 and forms a patty therein. In thismanner, the extruded food product will form a patty in the cylinder with“grains” of the food product arranged in an orientation that isgenerally in the same direction in which a patron will bite into thepatty. Orienting the food grains in this manner may improve the patron'sperception of the tenderness or texture of the patty.

The actuator 212 may include a motor 220 (shown schematically in FIGS.12 and 13) and a sleeve body 222. The motor 220 may include an outputshaft (not shown) that engages the sleeve body 222 such that rotation ofthe output shaft causes rotation of the sleeve body 222 (as well as thefirst and second arm portions 214, 216 and the cylinder 218) about afirst rotational axis A1 between the first position (FIG. 12) and thesecond position (FIG. 13).

The first arm portion 214 may be a generally L-shaped member (in someembodiments, the first arm portion 214 may be a straight beam) having afirst end 223 and a second end 225. The first end 223 of the first armportion 214 may be pivotably coupled to the sleeve body 222 by a pin 224that extends through the sleeve body 222 and an end of the first armportion 214. In this manner, the pin 224 defines a second rotationalaxis A2 (FIGS. 12, 13, 16, and 17) about which the first and second armportions 214, 216 and the cylinder 218 rotate relative to the sleevebody 222 between an raised position (FIG. 14) and a lowered position(FIG. 15). The second rotational axis A2 may be approximatelyperpendicular to the first rotational axis A1.

As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, one or more plungers or pistons 226 may bemovably received within cylindrical bores 228 formed in the sleeve body222. Gas ports 230 may be attached to the sleeve body 222 and may be influid communication with the bores 228. A source of compressed gas(e.g., compressed air, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, etc.) (not shown) maybe connected to the gas ports 230. One or more valves and/or pumps (notshown) may control a flow of gas between the source of compressed gasand the bores 228 to cause movement of the plungers 226 within the bores228. That is, compressed gas may be provided to the bores 228 to forcethe plungers 226 outward against the first arm portion 214 to pivot thefirst and second arm portions 214, 216 and the cylinder 218 about thesecond rotational axis A2 toward the raised position (FIG. 14).Compressed gas may be evacuated or leaked from the bores 228 to allowthe plungers 226 to move further into the bores 228 to pivot the firstand second arm portions 214, 216 and the cylinder 218 about the secondrotational axis A2 toward the lowered position (FIG. 15). In thismanner, the first and second arm portions 214, 216 and the cylinder 218may be rapidly pivoted between the raised and lowered positions toassist in separating a patty from the cylinder 218.

The second arm portion 216 may be pivotably connected to the second end225 of the first arm portion 214 by a pin or fastener 231 (FIGS. 14 and15) that extends through the first and second arm portions 214, 216. Aload cell 232 (shown schematically in FIGS. 14 and 15) may be attachedto surfaces of the second arm portion 216 and the second end 225 of thefirst arm portion 214. The load cell 232 can be similar or identical tothe load cell described above. For example, the load cell 232 can be anysuitable type of load cell such as a strain-gauge load cell (e.g., ashear beam load cell), a piezoelectric load cell, or a pneumatic loadcell, for example. The weight of the second arm portion 216 and thecylinder 218 applies a force that rotationally biases the second armportion 216 relative to the first arm portion 214 about a thirdrotational axis A3 (FIGS. 16 and 17) defined by the pin 231. The loadcell 232 may resiliently compress or deform as weight is added to thecylinder 118. The load cell 232 can send a signal to a controller thatindicates a magnitude of a load that causes such compression ordeformation. In this manner, the controller can determine the weight ofany food product (e.g., hamburger, etc.) that is dispensed into thecylinder 218 from the grinder 130. This information can be used tocontrol operation of the grinder 130 to dispense a desired amount offood product into the cylinder 218 when the arm assembly 210 is in thefirst position (FIG. 12).

The second arm portion 216 may include a first member 233 and a secondmember 234 that cooperate to form a gimbal that supports the cylinder218 for rotation relative to the second arm portion 216. As shown inFIG. 18, a first shaft 236 extends between the first member 233 and thecylinder 218. A second shaft 238 extends between the second member 234and the cylinder 218 at a location 180 degrees apart from the firstshaft 236. The first and second shafts 236, 238 cooperate to define afourth rotational axis A4 about which the cylinder 218 rotates relativeto the second arm portion 216 between a load position (FIGS. 14 and 16)and a unload position (FIGS. 15 and 17). In the load position, an openaxial end 242 of the cylinder 218 faces vertically upward so that thefood product from the grinder 130 can be received into an opening in theopen axial end 242 (as shown in FIG. 12). In the unload position, theopen axial end 242 of the cylinder 218 faces vertically downward so thatthe food product (i.e., the patty) inside of the cylinder 218 can bedispensed from the cylinder 218 onto the cooking surface 204 (as shownin solid lines in FIG. 13).

As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, a piston 244 is movable within the cylinder218 between a retracted position (FIG. 14) in which the piston 244 is afirst distance from the open axial end 242 of the cylinder 218 and anextended position (FIG. 15) in which the piston 244 is a second distance(i.e., a lesser distance than the first distance) from the open axialend 242 of the cylinder 218.

As shown in FIG. 18, a planetary gearbox or gear train 246 (shownschematically) extends between the first member 233 of the second armportion 216 and the cylinder 218. The planetary gear train 246 is drivenby a motor 248 (shown schematically in FIG. 18) and is operable tosequentially rotate the cylinder 218 about the fourth rotational axis A4between the load position (FIGS. 14 and 16) and the unload position(FIGS. 15 and 17) and move the piston 244 relative to the cylinder 218between the retracted position (FIG. 14) and the extended position (FIG.15).

Like the planetary gear train 145 described above, the planetary geartrain 246 may include planet gears, a sun gear, and a ring gear. Themotor 248 may drive a ring gear. The sun gear may be coupled to thefirst shaft 236 to drive the drive the cylinder 218 between the load andunload positions. A planet gear may be drivingly coupled to a driveshaft252 (FIG. 19). The driveshaft 252 defines a fifth rotational axis A5that is parallel to and offset from the fourth rotational axis A4. Thedriveshaft 252 is drivingly coupled to the piston 244 via a crank member254 and a connecting rod 256.

When a patty is disposed within the cylinder 218, friction between thepatty and the inner wall of the cylinder 218 may provide some resistanceto movement of the piston 244 relative to the cylinder 218. Suchresistance will ensure that operation of the motor 248 will rotate thesun gear of the planetary gear train 246 to rotate the cylinder 218about the fourth rotational axis A4 from the load position (FIG. 16) tothe unload position (FIG. 17) without rotating the driveshaft 252 aboutthe fifth rotational axis A5. While the cylinder 218 rotates about thefourth rotational axis A4, the driveshaft 252 will also rotate about thefourth rotational axis A4. The planetary gear train 246 will continue torotate the cylinder 218 about the fourth rotational axis A4 until thecylinder 218 contacts a stop member (e.g., a protrusion on the secondarm portion 216 that limits the range of rotation of the cylinder 218relative to the second arm portion 216).

Thereafter, continued operation of the motor 248 in the same directionwill cause the planetary gear train 246 to rotate the driveshaft 252about the fifth rotational axis A5 (without any further rotation of thecylinder 218 about the fourth rotational axis) to move the piston 244from the retracted position to the extended position. Such movement ofthe piston 244 toward the extended position pushes the patty in thecylinder 218 out of the open axial end 242 of the cylinder 218 and ontothe cooking surface 204.

As shown in FIGS. 20 and 21, the piston 244 may include a plurality ofstages. For example, the piston 244 may include an outer stage 260, anintermediate stage 262, and an inner stage 264. As shown in FIG. 18, thestages 260, 262, 264 may be concentric bodies. The outer stage 260surrounds the intermediate and inner stages 262, 264 such that theintermediate and inner stages 262, 264 are received within the outerstage 260. The intermediate stage 262 surrounds the inner stage 264 suchthat the inner stage 264 is received within the intermediate stage 262.The intermediate stage 262 is movable in an axial direction (i.e., alonga longitudinal axis of the cylinder 218 extending through opposite axialends of the cylinder 218) relative to the outer stage 260, and the innerstage 264 is movable in the axial direction relative to the outer stage260 and the intermediate stage 262. In other words, the intermediate andinner stages 262, 264 are independently movable in the axial directionrelative to the outer stage 260.

The intermediate and inner stages 262, 264 are movable relative to theouter stage 260 between a flat position (FIG. 20) and a deployedposition (FIG. 21). In the flat position, axially facing surfaces of theouter, intermediate and inner stages 260, 262, 264 are substantiallycoplanar with each other. In the deployed position, the axially facingsurface of the intermediate stage 262 is axially spaced apart from theaxially facing surface of the outer stage 260, and the axially facingsurface of the inner stage 264 is axially spaced apart from the axiallyfacing surface of the intermediate stage 262.

As shown in FIG. 18, a pin 266 extends through the connecting rod 256,through apertures 268 in the outer stage 260, through apertures 270 inthe intermediate stage 262, and through apertures 272 in the inner stage264. The pin 266 transmits motion of the connecting rod 256 to thestages 260, 262, 264 to move the piston 244 between the retractedposition and the extended position.

As shown in FIG. 18, the apertures 272 of the inner stage 264 are sizedrelative to the pin 266 to provide clearance for the inner stage 264 tomove axially relative to the pin; and the apertures 270 of theintermediate stage 262 are sized relative to the pin 266 to provideclearance for the intermediate stage 262 to move axially relative to thepin (but not as much axial movement as the inner stage 264). Theapertures 268 of the outer stage 260 may be sized to provide little orno clearance for axial movement of the outer stage 260 relative to thepin 266 (i.e., the outer stage 260 can move axially relative to the pin266 less than the intermediate stage 262. In the example shown in thefigures, the apertures 272 of the inner stage 264 are more elongated inthe axial direction than the apertures 270 of the intermediate stage262, and the apertures 270 of the intermediate stage 262 are moreelongated than the apertures 268 of the outer stage 260. The apertures268 may not be elongated at all.

As shown in FIGS. 15-17, the second member 234 of the second arm portion216 may include a gas passage 280 that extends between a gas port 282and an interior of the cylinder 218 between the piston 244 and a closedaxial end 243 of the cylinder 218. A source of compressed gas (e.g.,compressed air, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, etc.) (not shown) may beconnected to the gas port 282. One or more valves and/or pumps (notshown) may control a flow of gas between the source of compressed gasand the gas port 282. In some configurations, the gas passage 280 may bein communication with the interior of the cylinder 218 via a passageextending longitudinally through the second shaft 238.

Once the cylinder 218 has been rotated to the unload position,compressed gas may be leaked from the cylindrical bores 228 in thesleeve body 222 to allow the plungers 226 to retract into the bores 228to move the first and second arm portions 214, 216 and the cylinder 218from the raised position (FIG. 14) to the lowered position (FIG. 15).Thereafter (or concurrently therewith), compressed gas may be provide tothe interior of the cylinder 218 to aid in dispensing the patty from thecylinder 218 onto the cooking surface 204 when the cylinder 218 is inthe unload position (i.e., with the open axial end 242 facing downwardtoward the cooking surface 204). That is, the compressed gas may pushthe intermediate and inner stages 262, 264 axially downward to thedeployed position (FIG. 21). Moving the intermediate and inner stages262, 264 to the deployed position helps to prevent the patty fromsticking to the piston 244. Moving the first and second arm portions214, 216 and the cylinder 218 between the lowered position and theraised position may help to dislodge the patty from the piston 244.Moving the first and second arm portions 214, 216 and the cylinder 218to the lowered position also reduces a distance that the patty has tofall from the cylinder 218 to the cooking surface 204. In someconfigurations, one or more of the stages 260, 262, 264 may be providedwith ports through which compressed air can be injected to assist indislodging the patty from the cylinder 218. In some configurations,ports can be provided in the cylinder 218 to blow air across one or moreof the stages 260, 262, 264 to help separate the patty from the cylinder218. It will be appreciated that any combination of the above methodsand features can be employed to dislodge the patty from the cylinder218.

After the patty has dropped out of the cylinder 218, compressed gas canbe provided to the bores 228 to move the first and second arm portions214, 216 and the cylinder 218 back to the raised position to provideclearance for the arm assembly 210 to pivot about the first rotationalaxis A1 toward the grinder 130. Compressed gas in the cylinder 218 mayleak to the atmosphere or drawn back out of the cylinder 218 by a pump.

Overall

The foregoing description is merely illustrative in nature and is in noway intended to limit the disclosure, its application, or uses. Thebroad teachings of the disclosure can be implemented in a variety offorms. Therefore, while this disclosure includes particular examples,the true scope of the disclosure should not be so limited since othermodifications will become apparent upon a study of the drawings, thespecification, and the following claims. It should be understood thatone or more steps within a method may be executed in different order (orconcurrently) without altering the principles of the present disclosure.Further, although each of the embodiments is described above as havingcertain features, any one or more of those features described withrespect to any embodiment of the disclosure can be implemented in and/orcombined with features of any of the other embodiments, even if thatcombination is not explicitly described. In other words, the describedembodiments are not mutually exclusive, and permutations of one or moreembodiments with one another remain within the scope of this disclosure.

Spatial and functional relationships between elements (for example,between modules, circuit elements, semiconductor layers, etc.) aredescribed using various terms, including “connected,” “engaged,”“coupled,” “adjacent,” “next to,” “on top of,” “above,” “below,” and“disposed.” Unless explicitly described as being “direct,” when arelationship between first and second elements is described in the abovedisclosure, that relationship can be a direct relationship where noother intervening elements are present between the first and secondelements, but can also be an indirect relationship where one or moreintervening elements are present (either spatially or functionally)between the first and second elements.

As used herein, the phrase at least one of A, B, and C should beconstrued to mean a logical (A OR B OR C), using a non-exclusive logicalOR, and should not be construed to mean “at least one of A, at least oneof B, and at least one of C.” The term subset does not necessarilyrequire a proper subset. In other words, a first subset of a first setmay be coextensive with (equal to) the first set.

In the figures, the direction of an arrow, as indicated by thearrowhead, generally demonstrates the flow of information (such as dataor instructions) that is of interest to the illustration. For example,when element A and element B exchange a variety of information butinformation transmitted from element A to element B is relevant to theillustration, the arrow may point from element A to element B. Thisunidirectional arrow does not imply that no other information istransmitted from element B to element A. Further, for information sentfrom element A to element B, element B may send requests for, or receiptacknowledgements of, the information to element A.

In this application, including the definitions below, the term “module”or the term “controller” may be replaced with the term “circuit.” Theterm “module” may refer to, be part of, or include: an ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit (ASIC); a digital, analog, or mixedanalog/digital discrete circuit; a digital, analog, or mixedanalog/digital integrated circuit; a combinational logic circuit; afield programmable gate array (FPGA); a processor circuit (shared,dedicated, or group) that executes code; a memory circuit (shared,dedicated, or group) that stores code executed by the processor circuit;other suitable hardware components that provide the describedfunctionality; or a combination of some or all of the above, such as ina system-on-chip.

The module may include one or more interface circuits. In some examples,the interface circuit(s) may implement wired or wireless interfaces thatconnect to a local area network (LAN) or a wireless personal areanetwork (WPAN). Examples of a LAN are Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) Standard 802.11-2016 (also known as theWIFI wireless networking standard) and IEEE Standard 802.3-2015 (alsoknown as the ETHERNET wired networking standard). Examples of a WPAN arethe BLUETOOTH wireless networking standard from the Bluetooth SpecialInterest Group and IEEE Standard 802.15.4.

The module may communicate with other modules using the interfacecircuit(s). Although the module may be depicted in the presentdisclosure as logically communicating directly with other modules, invarious implementations the module may actually communicate via acommunications system. The communications system includes physicaland/or virtual networking equipment such as hubs, switches, routers, andgateways. In some implementations, the communications system connects toor traverses a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet. Forexample, the communications system may include multiple LANs connectedto each other over the Internet or point-to-point leased lines usingtechnologies including Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) and virtualprivate networks (VPNs).

In various implementations, the functionality of the module may bedistributed among multiple modules that are connected via thecommunications system. For example, multiple modules may implement thesame functionality distributed by a load balancing system. In a furtherexample, the functionality of the module may be split between a server(also known as remote, or cloud) module and a client (or, user) module.

Some or all hardware features of a module may be defined using alanguage for hardware description, such as IEEE Standard 1364-2005(commonly called “Verilog”) and IEEE Standard 1076-2008 (commonly called“VHDL”). The hardware description language may be used to manufactureand/or program a hardware circuit. In some implementations, some or allfeatures of a module may be defined by a language, such as IEEE1666-2005 (commonly called “SystemC”), that encompasses both code, asdescribed below, and hardware description.

The term code, as used above, may include software, firmware, and/ormicrocode, and may refer to programs, routines, functions, classes, datastructures, and/or objects. The term shared processor circuitencompasses a single processor circuit that executes some or all codefrom multiple modules. The term group processor circuit encompasses aprocessor circuit that, in combination with additional processorcircuits, executes some or all code from one or more modules. Referencesto multiple processor circuits encompass multiple processor circuits ondiscrete dies, multiple processor circuits on a single die, multiplecores of a single processor circuit, multiple threads of a singleprocessor circuit, or a combination of the above. The term shared memorycircuit encompasses a single memory circuit that stores some or all codefrom multiple modules. The term group memory circuit encompasses amemory circuit that, in combination with additional memories, storessome or all code from one or more modules.

The term memory circuit is a subset of the term computer-readablemedium. The term computer-readable medium, as used herein, does notencompass transitory electrical or electromagnetic signals propagatingthrough a medium (such as on a carrier wave); the term computer-readablemedium may therefore be considered tangible and non-transitory.Non-limiting examples of a non-transitory computer-readable medium arenonvolatile memory circuits (such as a flash memory circuit, an erasableprogrammable read-only memory circuit, or a mask read-only memorycircuit), volatile memory circuits (such as a static random accessmemory circuit or a dynamic random access memory circuit), magneticstorage media (such as an analog or digital magnetic tape or a hard diskdrive), and optical storage media (such as a CD, a DVD, or a Blu-rayDisc).

The apparatuses and methods described in this application may bepartially or fully implemented by a special purpose computer created byconfiguring a general purpose computer to execute one or more particularfunctions embodied in computer programs. The functional blocks andflowchart elements described above serve as software specifications,which can be translated into the computer programs by the routine workof a skilled technician or programmer.

The computer programs include processor-executable instructions that arestored on at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium. Thecomputer programs may also include or rely on stored data. The computerprograms may encompass a basic input/output system (BIOS) that interactswith hardware of the special purpose computer, device drivers thatinteract with particular devices of the special purpose computer, one ormore operating systems, user applications, background services,background applications, etc.

The computer programs may include: (i) descriptive text to be parsed,such as HTML (hypertext markup language), XML (extensible markuplanguage), or JSON (JavaScript Object Notation), (ii) assembly code,(iii) object code generated from source code by a compiler, (iv) sourcecode for execution by an interpreter, (v) source code for compilationand execution by a just-in-time compiler, etc. As examples only, sourcecode may be written using syntax from languages including C, C++, C#,Objective-C, Swift, Haskell, Go, SQL, R, Lisp, Java®, Fortran, Perl,Pascal, Curl, OCaml, Javascript®, HTML5 (Hypertext Markup Language 5threvision), Ada, ASP (Active Server Pages), PHP (PHP: HypertextPreprocessor), Scala, Eiffel, Smalltalk, Erlang, Ruby, Flash®, VisualBasic®, Lua, MATLAB, SIMULINK, and Python®.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a food dispenser; a cooking surface; and an arm assembly configured to receive a food product from the food dispenser and transport the food product to the cooking surface, wherein: the arm assembly comprises: an arm portion; an actuator driving rotation of the arm portion about a first rotational axis; a cylinder attached to the arm portion and rotatable relative to the arm portion about a second rotational axis; and a piston axially movable within the cylinder between a retracted position and an extended position, the piston includes a plurality of stages, the stages are physical parts of the piston, at least one of the stages is movable axially relative to another of the stages between a first position and a second position, the stages include an inner stage and an outer stage that surrounds the inner stage, the inner and outer stages are configured to support the food product, the piston moves in a first axial direction from the retracted position to the extended position, the inner stage is movable in the first axial direction relative to the outer stage to push the food product in the first axial direction away from the outer stage, and the inner and outer stages are movable relative to the cylinder.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein: the stages include an intermediate stage, the outer stage surrounds and movably receives the intermediate stage, and the intermediate stage surrounds and movably receives the inner stage.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein: a pin extends crosswise to the first axial direction and extends through apertures in the outer, intermediate, and inner stages, the apertures of the inner stage are sized relative to the pin to allow a first range of axial movement of the inner stage relative to the pin, the apertures of the intermediate stage are sized relative to the pin to allow a second range of axial movement of the intermediate stage relative to the pin, and the first range of axial movement is greater than the second range of axial movement.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein axially facing surfaces of the stages are coplanar in the first position and are axially spaced apart from each other in the second position.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the arm portion is pivotable about a third rotational axis to move the cylinder between a raised position and a lowered position.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein: the second rotational axis is perpendicular relative to the first rotational axis, and the third rotational axis is perpendicular relative to the first rotational axis.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein: the arm portion includes a first arm portion and a second arm portion, and the second arm portion is pivotably connected to the first arm portion and supports the cylinder for rotation about the second rotational axis.
 8. The system of claim 7, further comprising a load cell attached to the first and second arm portions.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the food dispenser is a grinder.
 10. A system comprising: a food dispenser; and an arm assembly configured to receive a food product from the food dispenser and transport the food product, wherein: the arm assembly comprises: an arm portion; a cylinder attached to the arm portion and movable relative to the food dispenser between a load position and an unload position; and a piston axially movable within the cylinder between a retracted position and an extended position, the piston is configured to support the food product when the cylinder is in the load position, the piston includes a plurality of stages, the stages are physical parts of the piston, at least one of the stages is movable axially relative to another of the stages between a first position and a second position, the stages include an inner stage and an outer stage that surrounds the inner stage, the inner and outer stages are configured to support the food product, the piston moves in a first axial direction from the retracted position to the extended position, the inner stage is movable in the first axial direction relative to the outer stage to push the food product in the first axial direction away from the outer stage, and the inner and outer stages are movable relative to the cylinder.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein: the stages include an intermediate stage, the outer stage surrounds and movably receives the intermediate stage, and the intermediate stage surrounds and movably receives the inner stage.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein: a pin extends crosswise to the first axial direction and extends through apertures in the outer, intermediate, and inner stages, the apertures of the inner stage are sized relative to the pin to allow a first range of axial movement of the inner stage relative to the pin, the apertures of the intermediate stage are sized relative to the pin to allow a second range of axial movement of the intermediate stage relative to the pin, and the first range of axial movement is greater than the second range of axial movement.
 13. The system of claim 11, wherein axially facing surfaces of the stages are coplanar in the first position and are axially spaced apart from each other in the second position.
 14. The system of claim 10, further comprising a load cell attached to the arm portion and configured to detect a weight of the food product in the cylinder.
 15. The system of claim 10, wherein the arm assembly includes a gas passage in communication with an interior of the cylinder between the piston and a closed axial end of the cylinder.
 16. The system of claim 15, further comprising: a source of compressed gas in communication with the gas passage and configured to provide compressed gas to the interior of the cylinder, wherein the compressed gas in the interior of the cylinder causes movement of at least one of the stages of the piston relative to another of the stages.
 17. The system of claim 10, further comprising: a cooking surface, wherein the arm portion is configured to position the cylinder over the cooking surface while the cylinder is in the unload position.
 18. The system of claim 10, wherein the arm portion is rotatable about a first rotational axis and about a second rotational axis that is perpendicular to the first rotational axis.
 19. The system of claim 10, wherein the food dispenser comprises a grinder.
 20. The system of claim 19, wherein the food product comprises ground meat. 